New Canaan Police just solved a 5-year-old burglary thanks to DNA testing on some spit captured at the scene of the crime.
A 27-year-old Stamford man was arrested by warrant on June 30 and charged with first-degree larceny and third-degree burglary in connection with the Oct. 14, 2009 burglary of a Frogtown Road home, police said.
There, the arrested man (then 22) is accused of stealing several thousand dollars worth of items, including a flat-screen TV, desktop computer and jewelry.
Police were alerted to the burglary by a son who arrived at the home (his parents’) and noticed that a door between the garage and house had been left open, according to a police report. Police later determined that the burglar entered the garage through a window, the report said.
A New Canaan Police detective who arrived on seen noticed a small amount of spittle on the tire of a car in the garage, and officials swabbed it and sent it for testing. In March 2013, they got a hit on the DNA of the spit, according to Sgt. Carol Ogrinc.
The arrested man posted $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear July 11 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.