DNA evidence helped police officers in Saskatoon lay charges in several break-and-enter cases dating back all the way to 2008.
According to police, officers collected DNA on July 26, 2008 after a break-in at a business on Primrose Drive which saw a front door damaged and money stolen from a pried-open cash register. Although DNA evidence was collected, police said Thursday it “proved to be unidentifiable at the time.”
Police responded to similar incidents in July and November of 2012, July of 2014, and August of 2020. The thefts included computers, electronics and more than $3,000 in cash. In each investigation, police said small amounts of DNA was collected.
Then, in May of 2021, police responded to a break-in that helped break the case wide open.
That incident – on Second Avenue North – saw $11,000 stolen, and video evidence led police to arrest a 56-year-old man in June of 2021.
His DNA was collected in 2022, and police said an analysis of that sample by the RCMP forensic lab confirmed his DNA matched the evidence collected in the previous break-ins.
The man — now 57 — is currently serving time for the 2021 incident, and police said he’s now facing five more break-and-enter charges.