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Forensics helps solve robbery case

On September 18th,  a man discovered an unknown male suspect inside his parked truck  in front of his residence in the 2400 Block of Thorndyke Place West.  The suspect had been rifling through the victim’s truck, picking up various items.  The victim, who was carrying his 1 year old daughter at the time, confronted the suspect.  The suspect apologized for  prowling his truck, but continued to take items.  The suspect jumped out of the victim’s truck wielding a knife, and threatened to stab the victim.  The suspect then ran to a nearby SUV and sped away, colliding into two parked cars as he sped off.  The SUV was later determined to be a stolen vehicle.

The SUV was later recovered and processed by the Crime Scene Investigations (CSI) detectives.  Ultimately, a cigarette butt located inside the stolen SUV yielded DNA, which was matched to a suspect.  That suspect also matched the physical description given by the victim.  A photomontage was  presented to the victim and he postively identified the suspect from the photo lineup.

On March 20th, detectives learned that the suspect was already in custody in the King County Jail for an unrelated crime.  He was interviewed by detectives and later rebooked into jail for Investigation of Robbery.  Detectives will continue to follow up on this investigation.  To learn more about the fascinating work of forensics and the work of the crime lab, visit http://www.seattle.gov/police/units/investigations/forensics.htm.