Police: DNA on Cigarette Butt Solves Armed Falls Church Robberies

DNA from a cigarette butt helped Falls Church City Police arrest three men they say were involved in a December armed robbery.

Robert Montgomery, 24, of Manassas, Vincent H. Pizarro, 21, of Haymarket, and Miguel M. Garcia, age 21, of Warrenton, are each charged with one count of robbery, abduction and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to Falls Church City Police officials.

Montgomery’s DNA was found on a cigarette butt found at the scene and after police questioned him, he implicated Pizarro and Garcia, police said.

Police said Montgomery and Pizarro are being held at the Arlington County Adult Detention Center with no bond. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agents reportedly arrested Garcia at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina after he returned on a flight from Mexico. He is being held at a North Carolina detention center with no bond pending extradition, police said.

Police believed the men were involved in two robberies within 30 minutes of each other from the beginning.

The first happened around 9:50 p.m. in the 100 block of Hillwood Ave. and the second around 10:20 p.m. on North Washington Street near Park Avenue. Both were on a Sunday evening in mid-December.

In both cases, police said the men ran off on foot.

City police worked with the Prince William County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax County Police Department, Prince William County Police Department, Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Customs & Border Patrol Agents and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to solve the case.