Suspect charged in summer car vandalism at Perrysburg, Rossford

ROSSFORD, Ohio — A suspect has been arrested six months after 130 vehicles were broken into in early June 2022 in Rossford and Perrysburg.

Back in June, law enforcement agencies were puzzled over who would break car windows, destroy paint and scratch obscene pictures and letters on car hoods.

But DNA taken from a hat left at the scene of one of the vandalisms came back with a hit for 43-year-old Ryan Carter.

Perrysburg Municipal Court Papers arrest him on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to all motor vehicles.

Rossford Police Sergeant Patrick Kwiatkowski admitted the case was difficult at the start of the investigation.

“I don’t think we believed we would be able to find exactly who did it,” Kwiatkowski said.

Initially, law enforcement appeared to be stuck, with no dash cam footage, no witnesses, and no substantial evidence.

But Kwiatkowski found a hat with Carter’s DNA. And because it was the most solid evidence officers had, he said sending it for DNA testing was worth a shot.

Kwiatkovsky handed over his testimony to Bureau of Criminal InvestigationCombined DNA Index System Unit for Analysis. There, the unit used digital DNA records collected from crime scenes, convicted criminals, and arrestees across the United States.

After Carter got the DNA hit, police located the suspect, interviewed him and got a confession, Kwiatkowski said.

CODIS had Carter’s DNA, thanks to him arrest for aggravated assault reported a day before the police received information about a row of destroyed cars.

Kwiatkowski said DNA is not routinely used to solve these types of crimes. In accordance with BCI DNA Division websitethere are specific guidelines and instances when DNA should be used to solve cases.

Carter is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.