Public helped solve burglary

Public helps solve bank robbery case in Culpeper, police say

BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

Date published: 1/3/2009

BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

Culpeper town police investigators are giving the press credit for helping them nab the man who is suspected of breaking into a bank Tuesday morning.

"The media publicity and the public's response were directly responsible for solving this case," said Lt. Chris Settle.

Yesterday afternoon police arrested 46-year-old Theodus Roosevelt Dinkins and charged him with burglary in connection with the middle-of-the-night break-in at Carter Bank and Trust.

Dinkins lives on Nottingham Street, the same street where the bank is located.

A bank employee reported the burglary to police just before 7 a.m. Tuesday. The bank had been ransacked but nothing was taken.

Investigators determined that the burglar broke a window and crawled through to gain entry to the bank. They found blood near that window, according to a police spokesman.

Bank surveillance cameras photographed a man in a hooded sweatshirt peering into a teller's drawer about 1:10 a.m. Tuesday.

After a surveillance photo appeared in the press Wednesday, police began to receive tips both at headquarters and through a Crime Solvers hot line.

They soon began to focus on Dinkins, and located him at his residence about 1:30 yesterday afternoon.

According to a police spokesman, investigators photographed cuts on Dinkins believed to have been sustained when he crawled through the broken window.

They also recovered several hooded sweatshirts from Dinkins and took DNA samples from him, a press release stated. That evidence will be sent for analysis.

Dinkins was held on $3,500 bond.

Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 1/3/2009

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