A South Heidelberg Township man might have gotten away with burglarizing a Cumru Township home if he had finished the barbecue chicken he took from the victims’ refrigerator.
But police investigating the case found partially eaten chicken pieces on the kitchen floor and were able to link the DNA from the food to Cody R. Brown.
Brown, 24, of the first block of Maywood Avenue, was sentenced to 14 months to four years in state prison after he pleaded guilty Monday before Judge Stephen B. Lieberman in the May 9, 2014, burglary. He also pleaded guilty to theft from a motor vehicle and other charges for an April 14, 2014 incident in which his DNA was found on the handle of a hammer used to break into a car.
Authorities said Brown broke into a home in the 900 block of Sheerlund Road, Cumru Township, at about 11:30 p.m. May 9, 2014.
The victims, Manny and Donna Gutierrez, found the lights on in the house when they returned home and noticed a basement door was open, police said.
The door was damaged and several electronics and coins were missing, along with barbecue chicken that had been stored in the refrigerator, police said.
Partially eaten pieces of chicken were submitted for DNA analysis. In February 2015, the DNA came up as a match to DNA submitted in a theft investigation in Wyomissing, in which Brown was the person of interest.
In that case, someone shattered the window of a vehicle parked at the Fox Movie Theater, 800 Berkshire Blvd., Wyomissing, with a hammer and then stole a backpack with a wallet and $300 worth of textbooks. A debit card from the wallet was then used to make three fraudulent purchases a few days later.
Police obtained surveillance footage from the stores where the purchases were made and identified Brown as a suspect.
Prior to being sentenced, Brown apologized to his parents.
Lieberman sentenced Brown to six months to two years in state prison for the second case, with the sentence to run at the same time as the burglary case. Brown will receive credit for 318 days previously spent in prison and was ordered to pay restitution of $594 for the burglary case and $645 in the theft case.
Contact Stephanie Weaver: 610-371-5042 or sweaver@readingeagle.com.
