There has been a critical break in a nearly 8-month-old vial home invasion in West Palm Beach.
Police say a DNA match left behind on a shirt and a gun led them to their suspect.
Willie Lee Anderson is behind bars accused in this disturbing and disgusting crime. Anderson has quite an extensive criminal past, including a history of lewd sexual behavior.
While his DNA was already in the system, it took nearly 7 months to match the DNA at the crime scene to him, allowing Anderson to commit more suspected crimes in the meantime.
“I noticed a man peeking around the parking lot very late at night,” said a Palm Beach Gardens man who only wants to be known as Richard. Richard remembers vividly when he called 911 last August to report a man acting suspicious in his neighborhood.
Police eventually caught and arrested 30-year-old Willie Lee Anderson. However, Anderson was ultimately released because of evidence issues.
Richard is now learning the same man who was accused of peeping and prowling in his neighborhood, is suspected of a disturbing home invasion that happened 4 months before.
Anderson was arrested Thursday night after DNA evidence from a shirt and gun linked him to the home invasion.
According to the police report, Anderson broke into a West Palm Beach couple’s home in May 2017, "ordered the couple to remove their clothing and get naked” and at gun point allegedly forced the couple to perform sex acts while he pleasured himself.
“I think something should be done with the system to be able to catch these people quicker and get them off the streets,” said Richard.
The part that the most frustrating for Richard, is it took the crime lab nearly 7 months to match the DNA from the gun to Anderson even though he was already in the system from other past convictions.
“Bottom line, I just think they’ll have to work on a system to make it quicker to get these people off the streets so that everybody’s safe.”
Anderson was denied bond at his first appearance Friday morning.
As far as how long it took to match the DNA, NewsChannel5 calls out to the Scripps Lab and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to ask if 7 months is standard when it comes to matching someone who is already in the system.