A glove found inside the bedroom of a Farmington Avenue home that was broken into and burglarized in February led Cranston Police to 34-year-old William Cosper after a thorough investigation that involved DNA analysis.
Cranston Police touted the arrest as an example of Cranston's dogged and determined police officers who carefully collected evidence at the scene and detectives who put in extra effort to find a suspect using the glove.
According to a release, Cosper allegedly broke into a house on Farmington Avenue on Feb. 10 after smashing a kitchen window. Once inside, he stole two TVs, an external hard drive, a passport and a gold chain with a combined value of $1,500.
The homeowner discovered the break-in after coming home from work and told police there was broken glass from the window all over the floor.
Along with ransacking the bedroom dresser drawers, police said Cosper dropped a black glove. Officers Matthew Schaffran and Jon Pariseault processed the scene and carefully took the glove in as evidence.
In September, the state health department's dept. of Health Forensic Biological Unit developed a DNA profile from the glove that was consistent with a single male source. The profile was entered into the Combined DNA Indexing System and a match to Cosper was made on Oct. 9.
Det. Jamie Cahill secured an arrest warrant based on the evidence and was able to figure out that Cosper was living on Whittier Avenue in Providence.
Cosper was charged with breaking and entering without consent and surety bail was set at $2,000. He will return to court sometime in December and the investigation is "ongoing," police said.
Cranston Police Major Robert W. Ryan said the arrest was "thanks to diligent evidence collection and processing by our uniformed officers followed by a thorough investigative follow-up on the part of our detectives."