Trucker found guilty of setting fire to multiple Swift trailers

A trucker who previously served time for stealing Swift Transportation cargo has been found guilty of setting multiple Swift trailers on fire, the first conviction of an alleged multi-state arson spree.

On Tuesday, March 12, a jury in a California federal court found Viorel Pricop of Allen Park, Mich., guilty of six counts of arson of vehicle or property in interstate commerce. A 16-day trial revealed that Pricop had set fire to six tractor-trailers owned by Swift in six different Southern California cities from December 2021 to September 2022.

The criminal complaint filed in October 2022 reveals that Pricop set fire to more than two dozen Swift tractor-trailers in eight different states after serving time for the transportation of goods stolen from Swift.

According to court documents, the first fire was set in June 2020 at the TravelCenters of America location in Santa Rosa, N.M. Four days later, another Swift trailer was set ablaze in Forrest City, Ark. By the time the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives got involved in January 2022, approximately 14 Swift tractor-trailers had succumbed to fire. For the next eight months, 11 more Swift trailers would be set on fire.

By September 2022, 25 Swift trailers had been set on fire in eight states spanning from Barstow, Calif., to McCalla, Ala.: Nine in New Mexico, six in California, three in Texas, three in Arizona and one each in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama.

Most of the fires took place at a truck stop or rest area along Interstate 40 or Interstate 10. In many cases, the Swift driver was asleep in the cab. In nearly all cases, the fire was started at a trailer tire with a piece of cloth doused in flammable liquid.

ATF agents caught a break with the 21st and 22nd fires, which took place in February 2022 at two truck stops in Southern California. In those cases, law enforcement officers were able to obtain surveillance footage of a suspect vehicle: a dark-colored tractor-trailer with a white trailer.

It was cellphone data that would lead investigators to Pricop. After obtaining data from cellular towers near the fire sites, investigators found that a device was used at the location of at least 10 of the fires. That device ended up being one by Geotab, a telematics provider for fleet management.

Using data from the Geotab device, ATF agents located a truck at the Love’s Travel Stop in Coachella, Calif., in March 2022 that matched the surveillance footage from the previous month. The California Highway Patrol pulled the truck over for an unrelated traffic violation. The driver of the truck was Pricop. Cellular tower data matched the movement of Pricop’s truck with the device identified at 10 fire sites.

With Pricop identified as a suspect, ATF found the trucker had an extensive criminal history in numerous states. Most notably, he was arrested and convicted of federal charges related to theft of Swift cargo, giving investigators a possible motive for targeting Swift trailers.

Pricop was released from prison in June 2018, and his supervised release ended one year before the first fire.

Investigators began tracking and surveilling Pricop in March 2022. At this time, 23 Swift fires had occurred, with Pricop’s cellphone data linked to 22 of them.

In September 2022, the final two Swift fires occurred at the TravelCenters of America in Coachella. Cellular data indicated Pricop had been in the area. Search warrants for Pricop’s truck, residence and personal vehicles were executed two days later in New Mexico. ATF agents found rags with suspected odor of an ignitable liquid, a gas torch, lighters and ignitable liquid in the cab.

During an interview with the ATF, Pricop denied involvement in the fires. He told investigators he had heard Swift is a “bad company” and said Swift is too big of a company to hurt, stating, “You cannot hurt Swift.”

Pricop’s latest conviction is related to only the six fires in California. He still faces additional charges in federal courts in Arizona and New Mexico. Sentencing for the California fires is scheduled for June. Pricop faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count.

“This defendant went on a rampage of retaliation against a victim of his last crime,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “Rather than take advantage of the second chance offered to him, he chose an incredibly reckless and dangerous path. We will not accept arson and other violent crime on our streets, and I am grateful that this defendant will now be held to account.” LL