A New York man tried to derail a train in Springdale last week by parking tractor-trailers from PPG Paints on the tracks, Springdale police say.

Officers filed charges Friday against Scott Andrew Heffner, 34, of Friendship, in upstate New York.

A friend of Heffner said Heffner was “paranoid that he was being watched,” according to police. When questioned by police, Heffner said “his phone was talking to him, telling him to put the tractor-trailers on the railroad tracks,” police said in a criminal complaint.

PPG Paints reported just before 6 a.m. Nov. 3 that two trucks had been moved overnight at its Springdale production plant on the river side of the railroad tracks.

A 2018 Freightliner owned by GetGo Transportation was found parked sideways on Sherosky Way, also known as South Railroad Street, alongside the railroad tracks, according to the criminal complaint. The truck was still in drive but turned off.

A 2023 Kalmar owned by PPG Industries was parked across the lower part of Colfax Street with a trailer attached to it, the complaint states.

At the back of the PPG Paints production building, an electrical panel was found open.

Police reviewed camera footage from the area in which a suspect, later identified as Heffner, was first seen on Railroad Street near the borough’s water plant around 12:35 a.m. and pulling into the PPG parking lot minutes later. He was driving a Toyota Prius with a Pennsylvania license plate.

Police say they do not know how Heffner gained access to the vehicles in the PPG lot and operated them.

The first truck is seen being moved across Colfax Street around 12:43 a.m., after which Heffner leaves down Sherosky Way. He is seen returning shortly after 2 a.m., walking behind the building and then moving the second truck across Sherosky Way beside the railroad tracks.

Shortly before 3 a.m., Heffner is seen on camera parking next to and getting into a borough street sweeper in the public works lot on Remaley Street, the complaint states.

Police identified the car Heffner was driving and contacted its owner, who was identified as Heffner’s mother. She said Heffner was driving the car with her knowledge and that he had gone to Virginia to pick up a friend.

According to the complaint, the friend from Virginia told police that Heffner believed he was being watched and was going to be killed. He said Heffner was driving erratically. The friend said he got out of the car in the Troy Hill area in Pittsburgh, after which Heffner drove away alone. The complaint does not give the time or date of when Heffner and the friend parted ways.

Police said they were able to contact Heffner, who came back to the police station for an interview, according to the complaint. Police said Heffner admitted to moving the tractor trailers and entering the street sweeper.

During the interview, Heffner told police “he was being watched and that his phone was talking to him, telling him to put the tractor trailers on the railroad tracks and to cut the power behind the building where the water was coming out,” the complaint states.

Heffner also said he wanted to go to Washington, D.C., but would not say why.

Heffner “said he was being watched by the government and that they were trying to kill him,” the complaint states.

Springdale police charged Heffner with felony counts of causing or risking a catastrophe, theft and receiving stolen property; misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle and loitering and prowling at night; and summary counts of defiant trespass.

Heffner was denied bail as a “threat and danger to the community” when he was arraigned Saturday, and was being held in the Allegheny County Jail, according to court records.

His preliminary hearing before District Judge Michael Girardi is scheduled for Nov. 17.

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