Sausage ruins robber's rip-off routine

by Rob Peters | January 31, 2008 at 01:39 pm | 302 views | 1 comment

After 19 break-ins, a sausage snatcher finally meats the long arm of the law.

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- German police have charged a robbery suspect after matching his DNA to that found on a piece of salami spat out at a crime scene.

The bitten-off chunk of the telltale sausage was discovered at a building that had been broken in to in the southern city of Darmstadt in April, police said Thursday.

The 37-year-old man was taken into custody in early January after police ran his name through their computers at a highway spot-check and found he was wanted for several other crimes.

Once in custody, he was linked to the Darmstadt break-and-enter through the DNA sample on the salami and charged.

But it seems the rejected meat was not the robber's only slip up: he has been charged with a total of 19 break-ins after other links were found.

The man, whose name was not released, remains in custody while police investigate.