A?robbery case that dates back to last September has been solved.? The smoking gun?? A cigarette butt.? Sounds like a tv crime drama, but it happened right here in Magnolia.? Detective Mark Jamieson explains:
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?photo montage?was? presented to the victim and he positively identified the suspect from the photo lineup.
Earlier this month, detectives learned that the suspect was already in?King County Jail for a different crime.? He was interviewed and later?re-booked?for the September robbery.? To learn more about forensics and the work of the crime lab, click here.