DNA hit leads to arrest in five-year-old home invasion

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WASHINGTONVILLE – A Monroe man has been arrested in connection with a November 2017, home invasion in the Village of Washingtonville.

A DNA match led to the arrest of Oscar Castillo, 33, who was indicted by an Orange County grand jury on two counts of burglary and one count of assault in connection with the crime.

He was arraigned and remanded to the Orange County Jail in lieu of bail.

At about 8 p.m. on November 18, 2017, two men forced entry into the rear door of a home on Cardinal Drive in Washingtonville.

The homeowner confronted the two, who wore masks, carried a shotgun, and yelled “FBI.” He got into a physical altercation with the perpetrators and was injured during the burglary.

Washingtonville Police processed the crime scene and collected evidence, which was submitted to the State Police Forensic Investigation Center for analysis. DNA found on some of that evidence was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, where it was matched to Castillo, who has previously been required to submit a DNA sample to the State DNA Databank.

He was arrested on Friday, July 2, 2021, in Westchester County with assistance of the State Division of Parole.

“Violence committed by breaking into one’s home is every homeowner’s nightmare, and acts of violence like those deserve a strong commitment from law enforcement,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “We’re fortunate that DNA technology has evolved to the point where we can often solve cases like this one, based on some bit of biological material that a perpetrator left behind at the crime scene. That technology, with good police work backing it up, can bring many perpetrators to justice, and can bring relief to many victims of many communities.”

“Over three years ago, Washingtonville Police officers carefully and methodically processed a violent home invasion crime scene,” said Chief Brian Zaccaro. “Because of evidence collected that night, we were able to match DNA collected from the scene to an offender who was not known to us previously during the investigation.”

A joint news release made no mention of the second suspect in the case.

 




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