HOUSTON – Investigators were able to use DNA evidence to track down a man who has been accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of equipment from the Houston National Cemetery.
According to investigators, a burglar got away with a golf cart, two John Deere utility carts, tools and damaged two trucks in December of last year. The cemetery's losses totaled $36,000.
Harris County sheriff's deputies said the burglar left behind a drop of blood. Using a national database, the blood was matched to 32-year-old David Torres, a convict with arrests for theft, burglary and drugs that date back to 1997.
Torres was forced to submit a DNA sample during his last stay in jail.
"At that point, when the CODIS was done, he was brought in, presented with the evidence and he couldn't fight it. He pled guilty with no jury," said Deputy Thomas Gilliam with the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
Torres is now serving three years in prison for looting the Houston National Cemetery.
The same DNA evidence also showed that Torres was a suspect in a second burglary.