ROSSFORD, Ohio — A suspect has been arrested half a year after Rossford and Perrysburg had 130 cars vandalized in early June 2022.
Back in June, law enforcement was left scratching their heads as to who would smash car windows, destroy paint jobs and scratch lewd images and letters into the hoods of vehicles.
But, DNA obtained from a hat left at the scene of one of the vandalisms came back with a hit for 43-year-old Ryan Carter.
Perrysburg Municipal Court documents have him as arrested on a second-degree misdemeanor charge of criminal damage for all of the vehicles.
Rossford police Sgt. Patrick Kwiatkowski admitted that at the start of the investigation, the case was difficult.
"I don't think we believed we were going to be able to find who exactly did this," Kwiatkowski said.
Law enforcement initially seemed to be stuck, with no ring camera footage, witnesses or any major clues.
But, Kwiatkowski found the hat with Carter's DNA on it. And since it was the hardest evidence officers had, he said sending it in for DNA evidence was worth a shot.
Kwiatkowski turned in his evidence to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Combined DNA Index System Unit for analysis. There, the unit used digital records of DNA collected from crime scenes, convicted felons and felony arrestees throughout the United States.
After a hit on the DNA came back for Carter, police found the suspect, interviewed him and got a confession, Kwiatkowski said.
CODIS had Carter's DNA, because of his arrest for a felonious assault reported the day before the string of vandalized cars was reported to police.
Kwiatkowski said it's not common for DNA to be used in helping solve crimes like this. According to the BCI's DNA Unit website, there are specific guidelines and instances where DNA should be used to help solve cases.
Carter is set to appear in court on Friday.