Viorel Pricop: Michigan man, 64, back in prison after setting fire to 25 semitrailers in eight states
ALLEN PARK, MICHIGAN: A Michigan man, who was nabbed by the police earlier too, was arrested for setting fire to 25 semitrailers owned by Phoenix-based Swift Transportation in eight states for two years from 2020 to 2022. Viorel Pricop, 64, of Allen Park, Michigan, was arrested Tuesday, October 11, and charged with one count of arson of property in interstate commerce, which carries a sentence of five to 20 years in prison.
An affidavit said that the GPS device in a commercial truck Pricop owns showed he was present at the places where the fires were reported. Police also discovered that his cell phone was present near 24 of the 25 fires from June 2020 to September 2022. A search of Pricop's vehicle and residence yielded evidence including logbooks, bills of lading, shipping receipts and other records coinciding with locations where the fires occurred, as per AL News.
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The fires were reported on the Interstates 10 and 40 between Barstow and McCalla, according to prosecutors. Police said that in total, there were six fires in California, three in Arizona, nine in New Mexico, three in Texas and one each in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama, reported AL news.
This is not the first time Pricop was picked up by law authorities. In 2018, he was convicted and got two years in prison for trafficking stolen goods and defrauding the IRS. The 64-year-old made a killing through his company Twin Twisters Trucking and Good Time, LLC in Milford, from 2010 to 2014.
Police found out what he was up to in 2015 when a police trooper landed at a Storage King on Grand River in Wixom to track down a load of stolen Bose stereos from New Mexico. The transportation company had placed tracking devices inside the boxes of the devices. Pricop fled to Canada in 2015 after admitting that he was involved in moving goods stolen from semi-trailer. On searching his home on Rowe Road near North Milford Road, Milford, police came upon a large barn on his property.
Inside the barn, they found 60 pounds of marijuana, two pistols and more than $1M of merchandise after two searches. They also unearthed a red 2012 Ferrari FF worth $490,000, a silver 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS worth $197,000, printers, computer tablets, more than 500 pieces of designer apparel, industrial machinery, handguns and other electronics, reported Detroit News. “Our search of the entire site was exhaustive and thorough so the likelihood of additional items being found is remote,” Homeland Security spokesman Khaalid Walls told sources.