Forensics help solve burglary cases

DARE COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) - Forensic evidence helped crack a series of burglary cases in Dare County, according to deputies.

Chief Deputy Steve Hoggard with the Dare County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to reports of burglaries on Colington Ridge in Colington on Jan. 8.

During an investigation into the burglaries, latent evidence was submitted to the organized forensic evidence unit. There, the investigator was able to link the burglaries to two people arrested in another breaking and entering on Jan. 8, Hoggard said.

Robert Wayne Phillips, 20, Michael Allen Church, 24, and Justin Daniel McQuitty, 20, all of Dare County, were arrested Jan. 18 and charged with two counts of first degree burglary and one count of second degree burglary. Church and Phillips are being held on bonds of $300,000 while McQuitty is being held on a $250,000 bond.