Washington Township police charge man with vandalizing pickup, trying to set it ablaze

Washington Township police accused a man of stealing the license plate off a pickup that he allegedly trashed and then botched the job when he tried to set it on fire.

The man was arrested in Forest County four days after the alleged incident, when a state trooper spotted him driving a stolen pickup with the license plate from the truck he is accused of damaging.

Brad Douglas Yasek, 36, of Main Street in Ellsworth, Washington County, was charged with felony counts of criminal mischief, theft and recklessly burning or causing an explosion, along with counts of theft and receiving stolen property.

He was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond. He was ordered to appear before District Judge Jason Buczak for a preliminary hearing April 24, court records show.

Washington Township police wrote in a criminal complaint that on Dec. 8 a woman reported her 2020 Ram 1500 pickup was vandalized while it was parked overnight in a pull-off along Route 66 near Crestview Drive.

She told police she typically parks her large work truck in the spot and then exchanges it with her personal vehicle when she goes to work overnight.

The woman told police she found the truck’s door open and the hood up when she arrived shortly after 7:30 a.m.

Police wrote in the complaint that the front grill was damaged and both driver-side windows were smashed.

The battery was cut out of the engine compartment and wires were sticking out of the fuse box, the complaint said.

Many engine parts were missing, including a computer module and electrical components, police said.

Investigators said the interior was heavily damaged and all the trim was missing. The steering column was damaged by tool marks that appeared to have been used to try to get the vehicle started, the complaint said.

Police said the fuel line was severed underneath the truck, and gasoline saturated the ground and some partially burned paper and cardboard that was placed there.

A trailer hitch and a bed liner also were taken, police said.

On Dec. 12 a state trooper in Forest County stopped Yasek while he was driving a Ford Ranger pickup that was reported stolen out of Brookville, police said. The pickup had the license plate that was stolen from the Ram truck, according to the complaint.

Troopers also found a trailer hitch and a battery that a Dodge dealer in Delmont told them came out of a 2020 Ram 1500, the complaint said.

Investigators said they also found a sales receipt for a 24-pack of Giant Eagle brand bottled water that was bought Dec. 4 from a GetGo gas station in Brookville.

Among the items recovered during the investigation of the vandalized Ram 1500 were five Giant Eagle water bottles found in the engine compartment and under the truck, police said.

On Jan. 25, Yasek was ordered to stand trial on a felony criminal mischief charge, two counts of possession of an instrument of crime and a count of theft filed Nov. 16 by police in Bentleyville, Washington County.

The next day, a district judge in Westmoreland County ordered Yasek to stand trial on a felony criminal mischief charge and counts of theft and receiving stolen property filed by West Newton police in November, according to court records.

State police in Dubois arrested Yasek on Jan. 31 and charged him with two felony counts of criminal mischief and a felony count of receiving stolen property in connection with an alleged incident Dec. 22 in Brockway, Jefferson County, court records show.

At a March 28 preliminary hearing, he was ordered to stand trial on the charges.

On March 17 Brookville police charged Yasek with felony counts of theft, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief in connection with a Dec. 2 incident, court records show.