Escalade owner charged with arson, insurance fraud

TAMPA -- Twice the Escalade vanished. Twice the owner reported it stolen. But now, more than 10 months after its charred hulk was found in the woods of Odessa, its owner has been charged with arson and insurance fraud.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, this is how it unfolded:

On May 11, 2007, Peter David Padilla (left) reported his 2007 Cadillac Escalade stolen from his home at 6102 Webb Road. Deputies used the vehicle's OnStar tracking system to find it in Pasco County. It was at the home of one of Padilla's acquaintances. Padilla recanted his story.

On October 17, 2007, Padilla reported the Escalade stolen from 7609 La Mesita Court in the Town and Country Apartments. The Escalade was found the next day in some woods at 15140 Rails Road in Odessa, burned and abandoned.

Padilla filed an insurance claim for more than $38,000. It was paid. The insurance company also paid Padilla $638 for a rental car.

On July 28, a man named Jason Barnes came forward and said he and Padilla had conspired to commit insurance fraud by ditching the Escalade.

Padilla, 49, was arrested Wednesday. His charges included arson, burning to defraud an insurer, false report to law enforcement, grand theft and criminal mischief. He was held without bail Thursday at the Orient Road Jail.

--Thomas Lake, Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]