We’ve all been there: you’re working on a tough project, get a bit of a sweat going, and decide nothing would hit the spot like an ice cold beer.
That turns out to be what happened in one criminal case in Garvin County, Oklahoma – only the “project” in question was an attempt to break into someone else’s safe.
Now police have managed to identify the suspect after they tested an empty beer can he left at the scene and discovered it contained his DNA.
The robbery occurred this past January at Self Equipment in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. The Garvin County Sheriff’s department says a man broke into the store on January 15, ransacked the building, and stole a small amount of cash as well as several items and tools.
However, his main focus was on attempting to access the store’s two safes, which he was not able to do with the tools at hand.
While surveying the crime scene, two Gavin County deputies discovered an empty beer can on the floor of the store, and decided to swab the inside of the can for DNA evidence.
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“A beer can was found inside the business with the contents consumed,” the Garvin County Sheriff’s department said in a press release. “The can was submitted to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) for analysis. On June 7, 2016, OSBI notified Sheriff Rhodes the DNA collected from the can was matched to Roy Dale Gilmore.”
Turns out Gilmore, 38, had several previous run-ins with law enforcement, and is currently in prison in Colorado after leading officers on a high speed chase in a car he had stolen in Nevada.
He is also wanted in three other Oklahoma counties for a series of burglaries. KXII News reports that Gilmore will be extradited to Oklahoma to face these and other charges.
“Our deputies are trained to recognize and collect items at crime scenes that have the potential to contain DNA evidence to help identify suspects,” Sheriff Larry Rhodes said in the press release.
“In this case, it was a Coors beers can.”