Recently, a three month long criminal investigation by Indiana State Police Detective Josh Rozzi resulted in the arrest of Mark McNew, 28, Kokomo, IN. Howard County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested McNew at his Kokomo residence when they served him with two arrest warrants. A Miami Superior Court II arrest warrant alleged two felony charges for burglary and theft. A Cass Superior Court II arrest warrant charged McNew with a felony count of possession/receiving stolen property.
On December 17, 2013, Detective Rozzi started his investigation after troopers responded to a security alarm at the Marathon gas station at 7233 South U.S. 31, Bunker Hill, IN. Evidence indicated that at approximately 2:12 a.m., a man had broken a window and entered the business. The man then removed an automatic teller machine (ATM) and put it in a vehicle before departing the scene. The business was closed at the time.
The next day, the ATM was located abandoned in a barn near Galveston, IN. The ATM had been forcibly opened and the cash inside was removed. Indiana State Police Sergeant Tom Kolb, a crime scene investigator, was called to process the ATM and the barn for evidence. Kolb allegedly located a partially burnt cigarette inside of the ATM. Kolb submitted the cigarette to the Indiana State Police Regional Laboratory in Ft. Wayne for DNA testing.
In January, McNew was arrested by officers from the Kokomo Police Department on a charge unrelated to the ATM theft. The Jeep Cherokee that McNew was driving at the time of his arrest purportedly matched the description of a vehicle seen at the Marathon burglary and near the barn where the ATM was found. After securing a search warrant, Detective Rozzi obtained buccal swabs from McNew. Rozzi then submitted the samples to the Indiana State Police Regional Laboratory in Ft. Wayne for DNA comparison to the cigarette allegedly found inside the ATM. After testing, Rozzi received a certificate of analysis indicating that the DNA profile from the cigarette allegedly matched McNew’s DNA profile.
“This case was solved because of cooperation between multiple law enforcement agencies and the outstanding scientific work conducted by Indiana State Police DNA analysts,” stated Detective Rozzi. “I also commend the general public for their willingness to provide information about this case.”
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law
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