Allen Park man charged for alleged arson of 25 trucks across 8 states
(CBS DETROIT) - On Wednesday, an Allen Park man appeared in the United States District Court in Detroit for allegedly setting fire to 25 trailers belonging to a major commercial trucking company in eight different states over a span of more than two years.
According to the United States Department of Justice, Viorel Pricop, 64, was arrested Tuesday and is federally charged with one count of arson of property in interstate commerce, a crime that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
The 25 semi-truck trailers were owned by Swift Transportation, an Arizona-based commercial trucking company. According to the affidavit filed with the complaint, the fires happened between June 2020 and September 2022.
In each of the incidents, the DOJ said the Swift-owned truck was stopped at a fuel station or rest area when the fire started. These incidents allegedly happened at locations along Interstate 10 and 40, spanning from Barstow, California, to McCalla, Alabama.
The trucking company hired investigators to help with the fire scene examinations. According to the Department of Justice, a pattern began to develop. Multiple reports noted similar methods of lighting the trailers on fire, and the fact that the fires happened late at night.
An investigation of cell phone towers near the fires showed a specific GPS navigation device installed in the trucks was present at the time of the fires.
The affidavit said law enforcement determined the device was owned and operated by the suspect, Pricop.
Law enforcement then identified Pricop's cell phone. The affidavit alleges law enforcement used historical cellular data analysis and ping warrants to determine the phone was present in the general area of 24 of the 25 fires.
On Sept. 16, search warrants were executed on Pricop's vehicle and residence. The affidavit said additional evidence was found connecting Pricop to the alleged series of arsons.
Numerous logbooks, bills of lading, shipping receipts, and other record keeping documents were obtained in both paper and digital form from Pricop's vehicles and residence.
The affidavit claims many of these documents listed location information, such as cargo pickup and delivery dates, which matched the locations where the fires happened.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the case, Assistant United States Attorney John A. Balla of the Riverside Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
This is not the first time Pricop has been involved in a case. In 2018 Pricop was convicted for transportation of stolen goods.
Pricop was sentenced to two years in prison with credit for time served. According to the affidavit, his term of supervised release ended in June 2019, about one year before the arsons in this case began.