A Villa Park man is facing probation and fines after he tried to blow up a car belonging to his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend.

Artur Pawlina, 21, 1S281 Danby St., pleaded guilty Dec. 14 to attempted arson. He received two years probation and must pay $500 to both the DuPage Fire Investigation Task Force and the new boyfriend.

Pawlina was charged in early August after officers found a crude incendiary device attached to the unnamed boyfriend’s gas tank.

The victim, a 27-year-old Glen Ellyn resident, uncovered the plot after he smelled gasoline from underneath his car.

Officers removed the device, which turned out to be a long-stem butane lighter, the kind often used to light grills and fireplaces.

Pawlina ignited the lighter from a distance using a string to pull the trigger, police said at the time he was charged.

Investigators determined that the lighter had burned a hole through the tank and some gasoline was leaking out.

Pawlina confessed to attaching the device in order to blow up the car, police said, but he said he did not want to harm any passengers so he was not charged with attempted murder.