Blood leads to suspect

Man arrested after Spotsylvania investigators follow trail of drops from burglarized business.

By BILL FREEHLING


Date published: 10/7/2005

By BILL FREEHLING

Spotsylvania County authorities followed a trail of blood to a suspect after a business was burglarized this week.

Sheriff Howard Smith said the crime happened late Wednesday, when someone broke the drive-through window at Nu-Look Cleaners in the Breezewood Shopping Center and went inside.

Nu-Look doesn't keep any money in the cash register after it closes, Smith said, so there was no cash for an intruder to take.

A maintenance worker in Breezewood Shopping Center called authorities after noticing the broken window just after midnight yesterday morning. Smith said the break-in probably occurred an hour or so earlier.

Spotsylvania Deputy Gordon Ridings and 1st Sgt. Michael Harvey noticed a fair amount of blood on the broken window and nearby ground, Smith said.

Shining their flashlights on the ground, they followed the blood drops into the subdivision behind the Courthouse Road dry-cleaner. It led to a deck at the back of 5277 Daffodil Drive--just a few blocks from the business.

Ridings and Harvey saw a man with a bleeding hand inside, Smith said. The lights in the home went out when Ridings knocked on the front door.

The man was hiding inside when Ridings and Harvey entered, Smith said.

Jose C. Argueta, 18, was charged with burglary and taken to the Rappahannock Regional Jail, where he was being held without bond.

Argueta is in the country illegally from El Salvador, Smith said. He had a fake Mexican ID and was staying at the Spotsylvania home with his brother, Smith said. Immigration officials have been notified, he said.
The blood found at the burglary scene will be compared with a sample taken from Argueta.


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