Groping Burglar's Flip Flops Lead Cops Right To Him

A pair of flip flops left behind by a suspected burglar may ultimately prove to be the young man's undoing, since those flip flops were what enabled detectives to locate and arrest him.The crime took place early in the morning of February 11, 2012, in a Lancaster apartment, explains the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The suspect entered the unit of a young woman using the sliding glass door. He hovered over the victim as she slept in her bedroom. When the woman awoke, the suspect whispered "excuse me." The victim yelled at him to leave, but he groped her before making his exit.

What the suspect didn't do before he left was take his flip flops from where he'd left them on the patio. Those shoes were submitted as evidence, and tested by he Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab (Scientific Services Bureau), and processed for DNA evidence.

Last week, the results of the testing were sent out to the Lancaster Sheriff's Station, identifying the man as 20-year-old Christopher Prather of Lancaster.

Prather was arrested shortly after without incident, and admitted in his interview with detectives that he'd seen the suspect and followed her, then went to her home later and entered through the glass door. By the way, Prather said he left his shoes by the door so he wouldn't be heard walking through the house.

The suspect is in custody, and was charged formally on Friday, June 1 for burglarly and sexual battery.