The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

December 23, 2009

Crime spree solved with fingerprint

By Dan Nienaber

LAFAYETTE — It took a few weeks for the evidence to make its way through the lab, but a deputy’s decision to lift a single fingerprint off a light bulb is being credited for solving an April crime spree in Lafayette.

A warrant that’s been issued for the arrest of 20-year-old Michael Karstein Eng III of Arlington is a formality, said Marc Chadderdon, Nicollet County sheriff’s investigator. Eng is already in custody in Sibley County.

Nicollet County sheriff’s deputies received dozens of reports of thefts from vehicles in Lafayette that occurred in the middle of April, Chadderdon said. They also received a report of burglary at a Lafayette residence.

A key clue was found after the owners of the residence that was burglarized told a deputy they had motion detectors, and the light should have turned on. Knowing burglars often remove the bulbs from motion-detecting lights, the deputy removed a bulb to be checked for fingerprints.

A single clear print was found and sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab in the Twin Cities to be evaluated. Investigators recently learned the print belonged to Eng, Chadderdon said.

“The deputy was smart enough to take the light bulb,” he said. “We sent it to the lab and we got a hit.”

It happens often on television, but solving a crime with a single print is pretty rare in real police work, Chadderdon said.

In addition to felony theft and burglary charges, Eng also is facing several misdemeanor theft charges for the crime spree. Similar charges have been filed in Sibley County against Eng and another man for a burglary that took place there in November.

A search warrant executed at a residence in Brown County as a result of the same investigations also resulted in stolen property being recovered, Chadderdon said.

“As far as we know, they were only in our county for one night,” Chadderdon said. “We had these guys as suspects for a while, but we really didn’t have any other evidence.”

It was the fingerprint that solved the case, he said.

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