Hoover Police Department
Kristopher Andrew Woodard, 33
Hoover Police Department has arrested and charged a 33-year-old Birmingham man in connection to a 2015 burglary in Bluff Park. The arrest came following a match to a DNA sample from 2004.
The burglary occurred on May 11, 2015 on Larkspur Drive. The suspect reportedly forced entry to the home through the read sliding glass door and cut himself in the process. Blood evidence was left behind on the scene, according to police. Firearms and jewelry were taken during the burglary.
Crime scene investigators processed the scene for fingerprints and collected a blood sample, which was submitted to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science.
In February of this year, a match returned. The match was from a 2004 crime in Portland, Oregon, which was committed by Kristopher Andrew Woodard, according to a police press release. Hoover Lt. Chuck McDonald said that's how modern investigative techniques factor into police work, and the fact that DNA evidence from a 2004 case could help break a 2015 case in Hoover is impressive.
On Feb. 19, Hoover detectives obtained a third degree burglary warrant from the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, but attempts to locate Woodard failed.
Hoover PD requested for public assistance in locating Woodard via a Facebook post on May 13, and on May 24, Woodard surrendered himself to detectives.
"I also think that our modern investigative techniques, and that coupled with social media, those can be strong tools to bring a criminal in," McDonald said.
Woodard told detectives that with his image posted on so many media outlets, he could not find work and “knew it was only a matter of time before his capture,” according to the release. The post was shared almost 40 times from the Hoover PD Facebook page and reached more than 3,300 people.
"In our case, it [the post] was shared 39 times on our page, but regardless, Mr. Woodard knew from talking to people that we were looking for him, and that pretty much made him make the decision to turn himself in," McDonald said.
Woodard was charged with third degree burglary with a $10,000 bond.
