Mt. Pleasant man arrested after police say he fled in stolen truck that later was set on fire
Mar. 5—State police say a Mt. Pleasant Township man stole a pickup truck and led police on a 20-mile pursuit early Thursday.
Seth G. Klingensmith, 24, of Acme, was arrested in Youngwood close to where the stolen 2010 Chevrolet Colorado was abandoned about 6:20 a.m. and believed to have been torched.
Klingensmith has not been charged with arson. He was arraigned on nine counts of reckless endangerment and single counts of fleeing and eluding police, providing false information, receiving stolen property, theft of a motor vehicle and driving on a suspended license. He is also charged with multiple traffic violations.
Trooper Jacob Mitchell reported that state police were initially contacted by Mt. Pleasant police about 6 a.m. that they were in pursuit of a speeding white pickup truck for multiple other traffic violations, including driving without headlights, leaving its lane of travel and failing to obey traffic devices.
Mitchell said officers told him that the pursuit began in the vicinity of Morewood Street at Route 31 in the borough, eventually continued on to Route 119 in East Huntingdon and Hempfield townships before heading to Youngwood.
"Police said they were discontinuing the pursuit on East Hillis Road in Youngwood," Mitchell reported in court documents.
As troopers were looking for the fleeing truck, Mitchell said in court documents that police obtained information that the truck had been stolen from an East Huntingdon Township residence on the 900 block of Mt. Pleasant Road.
The pickup truck owner told Mitchell he had noticed about 4:30 a.m. after arriving at his residence a thin man with a gray shirt nearby.
"While unloading scrap from his pickup truck, (the victim) said he heard the engine rev up and the individual speed away from the property," Mitchell said in court documents.
As Mitchell was interviewing the victim, Mitchell said state police received information that the pickup truck was located "engulfed in flames in a field behind the Pepsi Bottling Group at 204 Jacks Run Ave. in Youngwood."
Mitchell said a man matching the description of Klingensmith was observed fleeing the burning vehicle and was attempting to enter the Pepsi facility where he was taken into custody and transported to the police station for questioning.
Firefighters from Youngwood extinguished the fire.
Klingensmith repeatedly provided police with a false identity, but was formally identified by his driver's license that he had in his possession, Mitchell said in court papers.
Mitchell said that Klingensmith claimed he was in the area to apply for a job at Pepsi.
Klingensmith has no prior criminal record, according to on-line court dockets. He did not have an attorney listed in court documents.
He was ordered held in the county jail on $5,000 bond.
Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter .
