DNA match results in arrest of Port St. Lucie man

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla - A DNA match stemming from blood left on curtains three years ago during a home burglary helped police arrest a local man in connection with the case, according to a detective and records obtained Monday.

Ruben Toussaint, now 21, was arrested earlier this month on charges including burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft stemming from the June 2009 incidents, said Port St. Lucie police Detective Christopher Fulcher.

At the time, a woman living in a home in the 5800 block of Northwest Hann Drive told police she had returned from visiting her sister and noticed her residence had been burglarized, a report states.

A sliding door was shattered and some electronics were reported stolen. Police noticed what appeared to be blood on a curtain and took portions for DNA testing.

Fulcher said that in March 2011 Toussaint was arrested in Port St. Lucie in connection with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting without violence. In November, Fulcher said, Toussaint was convicted of those charges.

"Once convicted, they took a DNA sample from him and placed it into this national database or databank," Fulcher said. "DNA from the curtain ... hit on that in the system."

Fulcher said Toussaint wasn't a suspect at the time of the 2009 burglary.

"We didn't even know who he was," Fulcher said.

Fulcher said Toussaint, who at the time lived near the burglarized home, denied being in the residence.

"DNA works," Fulcher said. "Where ever you step, where ever you go, there will be scientific evidence to find you later."

None of the stolen items were recovered, Fulcher said.

The woman whose home was burglarized was surprised when told of developments in the case, he said.

"She thought it was basically a write-off," Fulcher said.The woman could not immediately be reached Monday.