DNA Helps Catch Suspected 7-Eleven Armed Robber

A baseball cap has led to the arrest of a 37-year-old Lakewood man .

Gregory George, of 1281 Thoreau Avenue, was arrested and charged with aggravated armed robbery after police extracted DNA evidence from hair inside a baseball cap left behind at the Hilliard Road convenient store.

Police believe that the 37-year-old threatened the store clerk with a box-cutter knife before fleeing the store in the early morning of April 11. 

Police chief Timothy Malley said that George — suspected of carrying the entire cash register out of the store — made off with a “couple hundred dollars.” His parked car was waiting down Olive Avenue.

But just before his dash down the street, officers believe George left his hat behind.

Malley said that Geroge’s DNA had been filed in a statewide database stemming from a prior conviction.

“It’s a good job by the patrol officers who found this guy’s hat and submitted it to evidence,” Malley said, adding that the uses the county coroner’s DNA testing service. “Getting it tested was all we had to follow up.”

Malley said the agreement with the county has saved Lakewood money — and has solved “dozens” of crimes, including the case of the suspected 7-Eleven robber.

“If he did it once, he could have done it again,” he said.

George is currently being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail. He’s set to appear before Judge Jeffrey Hastings on May 21.