By Staff Report
A suspect in the burglary of the Vernon Discount Drugs in July has been apprehended thanks to DNA left at the scene of the crime.
Shelton Deante Reddick, 33, of Birmingham, Alabama has been identified as one of the subjects who burglarized the drugstore. Reddick was identified due to the collection of evidence from the scene of the crime.
The evidence collected in July was managed by Washington County Sheriff’s Office Investigators and submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Laboratory for DNA analysis. WCSO received a hit on Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which means the DNA collected from the scene, matched a profile in the CODIS database. The DNA results identified Reddick as a suspect. Reddick has also been identified as a suspect in several store burglaries in Northern Alabama.
Late in the evening of July 13, WCSO Emergency Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a concerned citizen. The citizen advised Vernon Discount Drugs was broken into and two subjects had exited the store. The two fled the scene in a dark colored car. Upon leaving the scene of the burglary, the car traveled north on Dawkins Street.
The subjects were in and out of the store in approximately 40 seconds, exiting the store and returning to their vehicle with an undisclosed amount of controlled substances.
Reddick is currently being held in Marion County Jail, Hamilton, Alabama on local charges and with a hold on felony warrants from Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
The second suspect in the burglary has been identified and warrants are being prepared for his arrest by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
COLLIN BREAUX