Severed finger found inside glove helps police ID North Carolina burglary suspect
BURLINGTON, N.C. – A would-be burglar may be rethinking his exit strategy after leaving behind a particularly touchy item after a home invasion attempt in Burlington, North Carolina, went awry.
According to officials with the Burlington Police Department, a severed finger in a glove helped investigators identify Vernon Forest Wilson as the man whose hand got caught in a slammed door during the attempted Thursday burglary, WRAL-TV reported.
Wilson, 67, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill/inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon, the News & Record reported.
According to a news release issued by police, Wilson was jailed on a $250,000 secure bond.
Police responded to a Sellers Mill Road home at around 7 a.m. after the homeowner said an armed man approached him in the driveway between the vehicle he just exited and the front door of the residence, WRAL reported.
The homeowner told police that after a struggle – during which a bullet from the suspect’s weapon reportedly grazed the homeowner’s chest – he slammed the door on the man who was attempting to enter the home, according to the TV station.
When crime scene investigators reported to the scene, the suspect’s glove, which had fallen off during the struggle, was processed. Inside the glove, investigators found a severed finger, believed to have been cut off when the resident forced the door shut on the suspect’s hand, the News & Record reported.
Investigators then used the finger to positively identify Wilson as the suspect, WRAL reported.
