Recovered fingerprint leads to arrest in 2008 burglary
A fingerprint recovered at the scene of a 2008 burglary in Cape Coral has led to the arrest of a suspect in the 2- 1/2-year-old case.
Darryl Joseph Byrd, 21, of 1778 Veronica Shoemaker Blvd, Fort Myers, was charged with burglary and criminal mischief after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified Cape Coral detectives on Thursday that they had matched the fingerprint to Byrd.
The burglary was reported at 415 NE Juanita Court on March 18, 2008.
The victim told Cape police that someone had entered his residence by breaking the front glass door. A hammer that did not belong to the victim was found on scene. A flat screen television was laying screen side down on the coffee table with cables unplugged.
Cape Police Officer Malenie Rivera processed the scene for fingerprints, and the recovered prints were provided to Forensics for comparison. The prints were entered into the system; however, no match was found, and the case was pended until additional information was obtained.
On Oct. 28, FDLE contacted Cape Police Det. Alisha McDonald and notified her that the prints obtained from the 2008 burglary had been compared to Darryl Byrd and found to be a match. One of Byrd’s fingerprints matched the print located on the front of the victim’s television, officials said.
On Friday, McDonald and Det. John Howes made contact with Byrd, who was in custody at the Lee County Jail on unrelated charges. Byrd denied knowing the victim or being in the residence. He could offer no reasonable explanation why his fingerprint would be on the victim’s television, officials said.
He did say that his mother lived in Cape Coral and he would have visited her during the time of the burglary.
Based on the evidence, McDonald determined that probable cause existed to charge Byrd with burglary and criminal mischief related to the 2008 case, officials said.
Source: Cape Coral Police Department