Police: Trucker Tied to Beaver County Arson Through GPS Device

April 14, 2008

Police in New Brighton, Pa. say a Beaver County trucker’s global positioning device led them to charge him with setting his own home on fire.

Forty-eight-year-old Thomas Reinhardt, of New Brighton, is jailed on $150,000 bond on arson and other charges. Police say Reinhardt used nail polish remover to set the fire about 2:50 a.m. Saturday.

Police say Reinhardt initially told them he was parked at a rest stop in Cranberry, Butler County, about the time the fire broke out. But police say GPS records from Reinhardt’s trucking company showed his rig was parked about 100 yards from his house at the time.

Police say Reinhardt confessed when confronted with that evidence. They have not given a motive for the fire.

It is not clear whether Reinhardt has an attorney.

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