DNA left on an orange juice carton that burglars apparently took a swig from during an Eagle Point break-in last fall has led to an arrest, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department reported.
The Oregon State Crime Lab found DNA and fingerprints on the carton, a news release today said. The DNA matched a sample cross-referenced in an FBI database.
The man charged -- 33-year-old Central Point resident Ryan Darrell Bohnert -- had been considered a person of interest from the beginning of the case, investigators said. He was in jail on burglary and theft charges stemming from a separate burglary case when investigators linked him to the Eagle Point crime.
He has been charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree theft, and aggravated first-degree theft. He remains in jail today on at total of $60,000 bail.
Another suspect, whose name is not yet being released, is still under investigation in the case, officials said.
The burglary in the 11000 block of Agate Road in Eagle Point was reported Oct. 29. Based on the investigation, police deduced the suspects entered the home through the garage. The suspects made off with a flat screen television, jewelry and a safe that contained more than $10,000 in silver ingots and collectible coins.
They appeared to take a break at some point, removing a carton of orange juice from the refrigerator, taking swigs, then leaving it on the garage floor, investigators said. The carton was submitted to the crime lab for testing.
"It's definitely a big deal," said sheriff's department spokeswoman Andrea Carlson. "It takes some time when we send things off to the lab for testing."
In March, the crime lab reported finding evidence on the carton that pointed to two suspects.
"It had fingerprints and DNA," Carlson said.
The investigation is continuing. The stolen property hasn't yet been recovered, officials said.
Copyright 2013 - Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
