Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Federal authorities recently arrested a suspect in Michigan on suspicion of a two-year string of 25 semi-truck trailer arson cases along Interstate 40, including in Tucumcari.
Arrested was Viorel Pricop, 64, of Allen Park, Michigan, and made his initial appearance in a U.S. District Court in Detroit. Pricop was 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 New Mexico Fire Marshals Office played a role in the multistate investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), according to a news release Monday from the fire marshals office.
ATF reached out to the fire marshals office in October 2020 to coordinate the investigation of any commercial motor vehicle fires along I-40. On Oct. 24, 2020, New Mexico State Police contacted the fire marshals office to report a commercial motor vehicle fire involving a Swift tractor trailer in Tucumcari along I-40.
The rear of the semi-truck was on fire, and the driver of the truck was asleep in the cab. The fire marshals’ investigation determined it was an act of arson and attempted murder.
Over the following two years, the fire marshals office investigated five other fires involving Swift tractor trailers in conjunction with ATF. Using search warrants for cell phone towers in Torrance, McKinley, Guadalupe and Quay County, the fire marshals located a GPS device installed in a commercial truck that was present at all fires.
Through additional warrants and cellular data analysis, law enforcement located a phone owned by the same individual who owned the truck and GPS in the area of 24 of the 25 Swift truck fires across eight states.
Upon execution of a search warrant of the suspect’s vehicle and home, investigators discovered other evidence of his alleged involvement in the fires including logbooks, bills of lading, shipping receipts, and other records in digital and paper format. Many of the documents included location information such as pickup and delivery dates that coincided with the locations of the fires.
According to an affidavit, 25 semi-truck trailers owned by Swift Transportation were set ablaze while parked or stopped at a fuel station or rest areas from June 2020 to September 2022 across the I-10 and I-40 corridors from Alabama to California, including six fires in California, three fires in Arizona, nine fires in New Mexico, three fires in Texas and one fire each in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama.