Man's cigarette butts found at crime scene lead to his arrest

RACINE CO. (WITI) -- Cigarette butts found at the scene of a burglary in the Town of Norway led to the arrest of 31-year-old Christopher Zientara of Wind Lake. Now, Zientara faces two counts of burglary.

According to the criminal complaint, police responded to a report of a burglary in Norway on February 16, 2012. Officers learned someone broke into a locked access door in a garage and "stole numerous pieces of fishing equipment."

The complaint indicates "in the garages, there were two 'Pall Mall' brand cigarette butts." Officers later learned that "almost all of the items stolen out of the garages...were located" at a unit on Wind Lake Rd. "An opened pack of Pall Mall brand cigarettes matching those found inside the garages was also found next to the stolen tackle boxes along with the other stolen items."

The State of Wisconsin Crime Lab found the DNA swab submitted from the cigarette butts matched the DNA of Zientara.

The complaint says, "Officers then interviewed Christopher Zientara advising him that they had sent his DNA to the crime lab and the comparison came back matching the cigarette butts located during the burglary.  Zientara had no explanation for this and stated that he didn’t remember doing the burglary, but can’t say that he didn’t do the burglary.  He acknowledged that he does smoke Pall Mall cigarettes. "

If convicted, Zientara faces up to 12-and-a-half years in prison and $25,000 in fines.

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