Advances in DNA technology have led to multiple arrests and convictions on cold cases that involve violent crimes such as rape and murder. It has also been effective in proving the innocence of wrongfully convicted individuals in Michigan and other states. However, a recent arrest for a 2017 hijacking shows that DNA evidence can also be used in other felonies. Investigators in another state used DNA to formally charge a man who is accused of hijacking a motorcycle at gunpoint.
Court documents indicate that a grand jury decided to indict a 29-year-old man who allegedly robbed another person at gunpoint in 2017. Reportedly, the victim advertised a motorcycle for sale on Craigslist. According to investigators, two men responded to the advertisement and went to the seller’s property on a November evening in 2017. One of them went to look at the motorcycle, claiming that the other person who remained in the car was an Uber driver.
While the seller was showing the bike to the potential buyer, the one pretending to be an Uber driver allegedly came up and threatened the bike owner with a firearm. The other man allegedly mounted the motorcycle and fled the scene, while the one holding the gun jumped into the car and drove off. The motorcycle owner asserts that the fleeing men eluded him and also the pursuit of law enforcement.
However, DNA of the alleged hijacker was collected at the crime scene, and by June 2018, it was positively connected to an individual whose DNA profile was already on record. This led to the arrest of one of the men on felonies, including aggravated assault, motor vehicle hijacking and armed robbery. While the outcome of this case is not yet known, anyone in Michigan who commits a crime might need skilled criminal defense if DNA evidence ties him or her to the crime.