DNA Leads To Man’s Arrest Nearly 1 Year After Jeep Stolen: Police

NORTH HAVEN, CT — A man has been arrested in connection with the theft of a stolen Jeep last year in North Haven after DNA evidence linked him to the crime, according to police.

On Sept. 13, 2020, a Wayland Street resident reported his 2020 Jeep Gladiator was stolen from his driveway, police said.

The victim told police that he left the keys inside the vehicle when he parked it. The Jeep was gone when he tried to leave for work the next morning, according to police.

The Jeep was recovered in East Hartford nine days later and processed by North Haven officers, police said.

DNA collected from the Jeep matched two other recovered stolen vehicles, one from East Hartford, and one from Rocky Hill, according to police.

With assistance from the Connecticut Forensic Laboratory, investigators identified 21-year-old Yavier Ruiz-Velez as a suspect, police said.

Ruiz-Velez was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree larceny.