Fort Lauderdale Police said they used a new crimefighting tool to arrest a suspect who took a laptop from a decoy vehicle.
An increase in vehicle burglaries has led the Fort Lauderdale Police Department to start using SmartWater CSI. It is a forensically encoded liquid that can be applied to personal property or even sprayed on intruders to help police identify criminals.
Detectives used a decoy vehicle with a laptop marked with the liquid. Detectives parked the vehicle at the BP gas station at 701 W. Sunrise Blvd. on Dec. 12, and then watched as three suspects walked near it. They saw one of the suspects open the passenger door and remove the laptop from the back seat, police said in a news release.
The suspects left the scene and were later taken into custody on the 900 block of Northwest 7th Terrace, police said.
Detectives confirmed that the laptop stolen was the one from the decoy vehicle by using a black light and detecting the SmartWater CSI liquid, police said.
A 16-year-old teen was charged with one count of burglary conveyance unoccupied, police said.
In addition, Alton D. Roberts, 23, was booked on a warrant on a charge of attempted unarmed robbery, according to his complaint affidavit.
Local
An unidentified juvenile was taken into custody but was not charged and later released to his guardian, police said.
