LOUISIANA COMPUTER THIEF CAUGHT News : 'One man crime wave' : St. Tammany, LA:

'One man crime wave'
Slidell man confesses to arson, burglary and other crimes after weekend spree

By Erik Sanzenbach
St. Tammany News
Published on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 9:24 PM CDT

Slidell police on Monday arrested a man Chief Freddie Drennan described as “a one-man crime wave” on 27 charges, including arson, burglary and impersonating a firefighter.

The man, Andrew D. Wetzel, 20, 1407 Admiral Nelson Drive, Slidell, began a bizarre series of crimes early Sunday night that included several burglaries, two arsons and even trespassing on a military base.


Early Monday morning, Fire District One firefighters responded to a fire at the law office of Glyn Godwin on Second Street. After the fire had been extinguished, investigators realized the office had been burglarized before the fire and a gun, several computers and some cash had been stolen. While fire investigators, police and an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms were investigating that fire, a call of a brush fire off of the Interstate 10 Service Road was reported. When firefighters arrived they found a 1997 school bus parked in the Home Depot parking lot on fire. After the fire was put out, investigators found several burned computers on the bus. Slidell police quickly found out these were the same computers stolen from the law office.

Earlier Monday morning, Slidell police officers on patrol found Wetzel’s car parked in the Applebee’s parking lot next to Home Depot. The police found the car unlocked and a gun sitting on the front seat. The cops then removed the gun and were told by dispatchers the car was owned by Wetzel, who was wanted on several outstanding warrants for writing bad checks and bank fraud. They also discovered the gun was the one stolen from the laywer’s office. The police decided to stay and see if Wetzel returned, but they were called away on another emergency.

Later Monday afternoon Slidell police were told by a St. Tammany Sheriff’s deputy that Wetzel’s car was in a parking lot on Robert Road. Police found Wetzel sitting in his car, and he was arrested without incident at 4:30 Monday afternoon.

Drennan said Wetzel “has confessed to every bit of this,” According to Wetzel, he was in the Sunshine Laundry Sunday night next door to the attorney’s office on Second Street. He said he looked into the windows of the office, saw several computers and decided to rob the place.

“His intent was to sell the computers,” Drennan said.

Wetzel said he broke into the office, took the computers and placed them outside the back door. Then he took his car to a gas station and paid for the fuel with the stolen money.

Wetzel then drove up Gause Boulevard and periodically used a strobe light that he had stolen

When he returned police were searching his car, and he told police he hid in the bushes until they left.

Knowing he could not use the car, Wetzel walked down the road to an auto mechanic shop and found the school bus. After stealing the keys, Wetzel drove the bus back to the lawyer’s office, from a car burglary of Fire District One headquarters on April 13. Wetzel thought police had seen the strobe, so he parked in the Applebee’s and left the car. loaded the computers in the back, then set fire to the office to cover up any evidence of the burglary.

Before driving the bus to the lawyer’s office, Wetzel said he stopped on Corporate Square Drive and busted out windows, including those on Fire District One headquarters. He told police he did this to make a distraction for the police.

Returning to the Home Depot parking lot, Wetzel decided to set the bus and the computers on fire. He then called 911 from his cell phone to report the fire. He told dispatchers that he was a reserve firefighter from Lacombe, and he could see the fire from the interstate.

Wetzel got into his car, took off for Camp Villere and used his strobe lights to get on the base. He went to the St. Tammany Fire District’s training facility, broke into a car and stole an air pack, a portable defibrillator, a laptop computer, a resuce bag and a GPS unit.

For all this, Wetzel was charged with three counts of simple burglary, six counts of simple burglary of a vehicle, two counts of criminal damage to property, criminal trespassing on a military base, fraudulent portrayal of a firefighter, attemptedtheft over $300, criminal damage to a soft drink machine, three counts of simple arson and two counts of possession of stolentheft, two counts of monetary instrument abuse, two counts of forgery, and two counts of theft over $300 by fraud. Wetzel allegedly got credit card information from a fellow prisoner at the St. Tammany Jail a year ago and used that information for bank fraud and identitytheft.

During his interrogation, Wetzel also confessed to stealing over $2,300 from the lockers at the Slidell Athletic Club in August 2007.

Drennan said he expects more charges to come out of the ongoing investigation. ATF agent Austin Banks said his agency is looking into the case to see if any federal charges are warranted.

Everyone agreed getting Wetzel off the streets was important, especially with the arson charges.

Drennan believes that Wetzel’s behavior might be tied to his desire to “be a firefighter in the worst way.”

Wetzel had firefighter decals on his car, and Drennan said Wetzel may have been a volunteer firefighter in Lacombe several years ago, but that is being investigated.

Fire District One Chief of Fire Prevention Neil Ricca said Wetzel had never applied to be a firefighter at Fire District One.

“He is not, nor has he ever been an employee with us,” Ricca said.

Drennan said Wetzel was in the Slidell City Jail without bond and would soon be moved to the St. Tammany Parish Jail. property. For the outstanding warrants, Wetzel was charged with two counts of bank fraud, two counts of identity