DNA From Cigar Led To East Austin Robbery Suspect's Arrest

EAST AUSTIN, TX — Like an episode straight out of the television show "Forensic Files," it was DNA from a suspect in a string of East Austin store robberies that led to his eventual capture, according to an arrest affidavit.

According to a report in the Austin American-Statesman, DNA on a cigar led to this week's arrest of Carlton Dorsett Lewis, 39, in connection to a series of convenience store robberies. Some of the stores were hit more than once in a succession of mere days, according to past reports.

It was an Oct. 17 heist that yielded the DNA clue, according to police. As the suspect struggled with a cashier at the MLK Food Store at 2915 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. he dropped the cigar he had clenched between his teeth on the counter top before fleeing, according to an affidavit referenced by the newspaper.

While sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, in this case it was an instrument yielding a wealth of clues for Austin police who seized it as evidence. The day after the store robbery, detectives learned the DNA extracted from the cigar matched profile on record belonging to Lewis — who was found to have an active parole violation warrant for another robbery in Bastrop County, according to the report.

The suspect was booked into the Travis County Jail on Saturday, and is charged with robbery, six counts of aggravated robbery and a violation of parole.

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>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

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