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Police: Burglar drank juice, left DNA

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NEW YORK, June 29 (UPI) -- Police say a New York man arrested for burglary was tracked through DNA left on a carton of orange juice he allegedly drank from and left at the crime scene.

James Moorer, 20, was arrested and charged with burglary this week for allegedly breaking into a Chelsea apartment on Christmas Day 2009 and making off with a desktop computer, video and still cameras, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

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Police arrested Moorer, who has a record of prior arrests, after matching his DNA to the national DNA database.

Hanna Cheek, the building superintendent, said the burglar broke in by booting in a basement-window air conditioner. While there he found keys to the first floor home of a couple who were gone for the holidays. Cheek said the intruder "wasn't making any effort to be quiet," and called police when she realized there was a burglary in progress.

The burglar ran off when police arrived, but returned later to steal electronic devices from the tenant, Andy Wall.

"They got some of my stuff, but what was upsetting was the idea of them violating my personal space," Wall said. "It was particularly nerve-wracking because they came back a second time. I don't expect to get anything back."

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Cheek says she has changed all the building's locks.

Moorer was being held in lieu of $15,000 bail.

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