Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – May 7, 2024 – Discarded cigarette butts at a 2021 crime scene led to the arrest of a Harrisburg man this month.
Jay Hunter Coleman, 25, is accused of cutting off catalytic converters from several vehicles at a church on Harrisburg Road on May 16, 2021. At the scene, Jonesboro police officers found several saw blades and multiple cigarette butts around the vehicles. Officers collected the butts and sent them to the state Crime Lab for DNA identification.
On April 30, the lab was able to identify the DNA as belonging to Coleman, who was already jailed at the Craighead County Detention Center.
When interviewed, Coleman told investigators that he didn’t remember the incident, but that it was possible that he did commit the crime because he was using methamphetamine at the time.
District Judge David Boling found probable cause to charge Coleman with theft of property greater than $1,000 but less than $5,000, a class D felony, and first-degree criminal mischief, a class D felony.
He set Coleman’s bond at $10,000 and set his court date for June 28 in Craighead County Circuit Court.