BATON ROUGE, La. — Authorities have arrested a Louisiana man for intentionally setting his pickup truck on fire in an attempt to defraud his insurance company, according to the State Fire Marshal (SFM).
Thomas Tyler, 44, of Stonewall, allegedly admitted to SFM deputies that he set his 2024 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck ablaze with the intent of collecting insurance money. Tyler was booked into the DeSoto Parish Detention Center on Monday, facing a charge of arson with intent to defraud.
The incident occurred shortly after 4 a.m. on January 11 on Interstate 49 near the Mansfield exit. Firefighters from DeSoto Fire District No. 8 arrived to find the pickup truck engulfed in flames. SFM deputies also responded and initially interviewed Tyler, who claimed he had tossed a cigarette out the window, resulting in a gas can in the truck bed catching fire.
Later, during the investigation, Tyler changed his initial story and confessed to the crime, the state fire marshal’s office reported.
