'Get out perv' left at fire site

2-2-2008 Indiana:

A trailer of carpet cleaning equipment at an Evansville house may have been mistakenly set on fire by someone targeting a suspected sex offender early Friday morning, according to a police report.

Firefighters arrived at 705 Audubon Drive at 2:30 a.m. to find a cargo trailer on fire in the driveway at the home of Randall Eggers, according to fire investigators.

The phrase "GET OUT PERV" was spray painted on the victim's garage.

According to an Evansville Police Department report, the homeowner heard a popping sound from outside and could see a glow from the windows. He went outside to find the cargo trailer on fire and used his pickup truck to push it away from the house before the fire could spread.

Fire Investigator Jesse Storey told police that he could smell gasoline around the trailer. The trailer and its contents were a total loss and valued at about $30,000.

Possible target

The resident told police that Robert "Andy" Gillespie, who was arrested last month on preliminary charges of child solicitation, lives nearby.

Gillespie was arrested after driving to the Indianapolis area allegedly to meet a 14-year-old girl he had met in an online chat room.

But police say Gillespie actually was chatting online and sharing lewd photographs with an undercover Carmel, Ind., police officer who arranged for Gillespie's arrest when he showed up at their agreed upon meeting place.

The recent University of Evansville graduate and a former employee of the WUEV student radio station there also worked several times as a substitute teacher at McGary Middle School and Stockwell Elementary School. ..more.. by Mark Wilson