Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412230122
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Short
"This is a result of good old-fashioned police work on our part and innovative technology on the lab's part," said Capt. Gary Harmon.
In April, a van was stolen from the Radford Church of God in Christ. Police later recovered the van in Christiansburg. On June 3, a man reported that someone broke into his car, which was parked at Radford Plastics, and stole his car stereo. Radford police lifted fingerprints from the vehicles and sent them to the Roanoke Division of Forensics Sciences lab for processing.
Earlier this month, lab workers told Radford police they had a match in both cases implicating a 19-year-old Radford man. Police had no suspects until the match was made using the Automated Fingerprinting Identification System.
When people are arrested, their fingerprints are entered into the system's computer. When fingerprints of unknown suspects are lifted from stolen items and entered into the computer, it can takes months or even years for a match to be found, depending on whether the suspect is ever fingerprinted and charged with another crime. If new prints show a match, police call it a "hit."
"This is the fourth or fifth time that we've got a cold hit, but it's great," Harmon said.
City police have charged Christopher Laieke, address unknown, with two counts of grand larceny. He has been released on a $5,000 bond.
by CNB