Quick DNA analysis lands Mission Viejo robbery suspect in jail

Travis Allard was long gone, authorities say, by the time Orange County sheriff’s investigators found the blood-stained cash register he was suspected of stealing from Pink Ribbon Donuts in Mission Viejo.
But he was identified just a day later, they said, under the Rapid DNA program.
Allard, 30, had entered the shop March 21, ordered two donuts, brandished a knife and demanded cash, a Sheriff’s Department news release said. He fled with the money, which vanished, and the register, which along with the drawer was found in Lake Forest the same day, according to authorities.
Before the day was done, investigators submitted drops of blood to the District Attorney’s Office’s Rapid DNA Program for analysis. The next day, March 22, the lab identified Allard from the sample. The district attorney’s office provided the information to investigators, who arrested Allard on March 27, the Sheriff’s Department said.
The Rapid DNA Program, created in October 2014, slices the weeks or months off the time it usually takes to find a match in a database.
The program requires investigators to submit a larger strand of DNA than is usually provided, and in this case, authorities said, the blood was just what they needed.
Source: Oc Register