LAWRENCE - Police say fingerprints left behind on shards of glass from a smashed drive-through window gave them what they needed to arrest a suspect in a doughnut shop robbery last month.
"This is a Lawrence CSI case," Chief John Romero said, referring to a popular television series about crime scene investigation. "This is where modern criminal technology really paid off for us. And, I think you'll see more of this in the future."
Results of analysis by State Police Crime Scene Services determined that three sets of fingerprints lifted from the shattered glass at the Dunkin Donuts at 61 S. Union St., belonged to John Raymond Arsenault — a career criminal who has already served time for 13 of 16 burglaries he has been charged with.
Arsenault, 47, of 77 S. Union St., Lawrence, was charged with breaking and entering of a building in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony, larceny under $250 and vandalism under $250.
Arsenault allegedly smashed the sliding drive-through window early in the morning of Nov. 17 after the shop had been closed and reached in and took $70 from the cash register just inside.
Arsenault was already on probation for a Christmas Eve break he committed last year.
Romero gave credit to his detectives for recognizing the potential of getting the fingerprints from the broken glass.
Detective Sgt. Gene Hatem requested that the doughnut shop be "processed" for possible fingerprint evidence.
"I dusted the window ... and found some latents which did have some ridge quality with somer clarity. This latent was lifted and secured. There were thre impressons of fingerprints," Detective Carlos Vieira wrote in his report.
Arsenault, who lives within a short walking distance of the shop, was arrested without incident in his room at Valley Lodging South, a local boarding house.
"Getting this guy off the street was a good thing," Romero said. "We're glad we were able to solve this crime. But, more important, how many others do we prevent by arresting him? This guy is well-known to police for a lot of burglaries."
While the use of fingerprints to solve a commercial break is rare for the Lawrence police, it's not because for lack of effort, Romero insisted.
"We try in as many cases as we can to lift print," the chief said. "In this case, we caught a break and were able to match several prints up with a known individual who specializes in this type of crime. In a lot of cases, we're not able to get a good print because people touch the crime scene."
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