By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

GLENDALE - Police and residents are celebrating their luck with a national crime database that proved key in leading to an arrest in a trio of spring and summer break-ins.

Because the burglar dripped blood in and outside of one house July 7, police and Hamilton County coroner's lab technicians were able to work up a DNA profile. The DNA, when put into the Combined DNA Index System database, matched that of a man on parole for similar crimes, and police made the arrest.

Investigators believe Carl Jones, 42, of Camp Washington stopped at the three Glendale houses May 14, May 19 and July 7 on his way to or from nearby temporary jobs, said Officer David LeCompte. He was in the Hamilton County Justice Center on Monday, charged with burglary and receiving stolen property.

Jones' DNA was in the database because of his previous imprisonment. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation collects samples from people in prison for some offenses and enters the DNA into the national system.

After linking him to the last crime, LeCompte said investigators found stolen items that linked him to the other two. Among those, according to court documents, was a black leather Cincinnati Milacron bag and a calculator with one victim's name on it.

Mostly, money and jewelry were taken, LeCompte said, totaling more than $13,000.

"It created a real sense of concern through the village," LeCompte said. "That's a violating kind of offense anytime someone enters a space that belongs to you."

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E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com