EVERETT — An Arlington man was charged earlier this week with first-degree robbery for holding up a Dominos Pizza in Smokey Point.
Prosecutors charged Timothy Sherlock with first-degree robbery for a January 2011 heist at the pizza business. Sherlock, 24, is accused of robbery while armed with a switchblade-type knife. He took about $60, authorities said.
Detectives caught up with Sherlock in May after comparing DNA recovered from a sweatshirt found in the woods near the restaurant with a sample they took from a plastic spoon-fork hybrid, or spork, Sherlock reportedly used while locked up in the Marysville city jail.
The pizza store employee told police the sweatshirt they recovered during their investigation matched the one worn by the robber. Scientists recovered genetic evidence from the sweatshirt, but there was no match found in the statewide and national criminal DNA databases.
Detectives enlisted the aid of jail staff and, without the suspect knowing, collected the spork he’d used.
The spork was sent to the State Patrol crime lab. Tests showed the DNA on the utensil matched samples taken from the sweatshirt.
Sherlock was arrested in May, more than a year after the robbery. He reportedly told police he “knew this would catch up” with him, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Chris Dickinson wrote in court papers.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.