DNA evidence recovered from a crime scene last year led to the arrest of a burglary suspect by the River Forest Police Department more than 10 months after the incident occurred.
Jose Bautista, 23, of the 1600 block of Euclid Avenue in Berwyn, was arrested May 3 and charged with burglary for forcing his way into the garage of a residence located in the 1500 block of Clinton Place on July 2, 2010, and removing a Trek bicycle.
Bautista was connected to the crime scene through his blood, which was left behind on a curtain near a broken garage window. The evidence was analyzed at the Illinois State Police Crime Lab and matched to the Bautista through a DNA index system called CODIS.
Following his arrest, Bautista confessed to the burglary, River Forest police said.
River Forest police Sgt. Michael Thornley said it can take several months to get evidence results back from the crime lab for non-violent crimes like the burglary, but it’s not the first case of its kind in the village.
“We’ve cleared more than a few residential burglaries on DNA or latent fingerprint evidence,” he said.
Bautista did not have any prior arrests in River Forest, but Thornley said that only people with criminal histories are entered into the CODIS system.