Lake Hallie (Press Release) - On Friday, November 13, 2009 at about 3:47 a.m. Officer Hakes of the Lake
Hallie Police Department responded to Randy's Holiday Towing located on 115th Avenue in Lake Hallie.
The investigation showed that someone had forced their
way through the front door to gain entry to the building. Once inside the
building the suspect then stole a pickup truck of an employee, by driving the
truck through the overhead garage door. The City of Eau Claire Police located
the truck later in the day.
Before releasing the recovered truck to the owner, Officer Hakes swabbed
the inside of the vehicle for the purpose of collecting DNA. Swabs taken from
the truck were sent to the Wisconsin Crime Lab to be processed. At the time the owner of the truck was
identified as being in the vehicle and one "unidentified" male's DNA was also
located.
The "unidentified" male DNA remained that way until March of 2012 (2
years and 4 months later) when a "match" was reported to the Lake Hallie
Police. It was reported that a subject who was currently on probation and
residing in Sauk County was a suspect. The "match" was a result of
the State DNA data information system.
Officer Hakes traveled to Sauk County with a search warrant to obtain
the suspect's DNA to be used in a comparative analysis for confirmation. The
suspect was interviewed and his DNA collected. The subject admitted to Officer
Hakes that he forced open the business door and stole the truck. It was reported
that he was fleeing the area as he thought the Lake Hallie Police were after
him for a fight. Officers responded to an area bar for a fight, but were unaware
of the suspect or his involvement in that fight.
On May 17, 2012 a Criminal Complaint was filed in the Chippewa County
Courthouse charging Curtis W. Brown age 25, of Lyndon Station with Burglary of
a Building, Felony Criminal Damage, Operating a vehicle without Owner's
consent, and Misdemeanor Theft. Mr.
Brown has a Court appearance date of July 24, 2012. According to the
investigation the suspect is not known by the owner of the business or the
vehicle which was stolen.
This case is just one example how proper DNA collection has changed
the way Law Enforcement collects evidence.
