CINCINNATI --
Police investigating a break-in at a downtown Cincinnati restaurant have a unique piece of evidence to catch their man.
Someone broke into Paula's Café on Fourth Street a couple of weeks ago.
The store's owner Paula Kirk said the burglar broke through the glass door, raided the cash register and stole $100.
But Kirk said that the burglar left behind a glove, which contained DNA from saliva.
"We were really lucky that we found his glove. If we hadn't found his glove, we wouldn't get his DNA," Kirk said. "I guess he was careful in the past and this time he slipped up, luckily for me and everybody else."
She said police expedited the DNA analysis because of a rash of burglaries in the downtown area.
Police used the DNA to identify the burglar as John Evans. Kirk said she was told Evans has been arrested 62 times prior.
"You wonder how that's possible, that he's still out on the street. What happened to that law that third time and you're put away?" she asked.
Prosecutors said there's a variety of reasons that Evans could still be on the street. If many of his crimes were low-level in nature, some of the charges may have been dropped.
Prosecutors also pointed out that the Hamilton County Justice Center, in particular, has a significant overcrowding problem, which often means minor offenders are released early.
Anyone with information about Evans is asked to call Crimestoppers at 513-352-3040.
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