MESA, Ariz. — DNA evidence left behind on a water bottle at a 7-Eleven store recently helped Mesa police identify the suspect who allegedly stabbed one of the store's employees earlier this year.
The store clerk was attacked on Sept. 21 after a man came inside the 7-Eleven near Main Street and Gilbert Road and took a drink without paying for it, according to the Mesa Police Department.
When the clerk confronted the man over the unpaid item, the suspect allegedly hit, kicked, and then stabbed the 7-Eleven employee.
The suspect then walked into a nearby McDonald's restaurant and filled up a cup at the drinking station, police said. The man was then confronted by the McDonald's manager and pepper sprayed by a customer before leaving with his unpaid drink.
Investigators reviewed surveillance videos from the 7-Eleven and McDonald's stores and observed the suspect throwing a water bottle into a trash can outside the convenience store.
The bottle was tested for DNA at Mesa's crime lab and a profile matched with an existing profile cataloged in the Combined DNA Index System for 31-year-old Jody Naputi.
Naputi's driver's license photo was compared to the man seen on the surveillance videos and Mesa police said it was a positive match.
Naputi was arrested last week in Mesa and is facing charges of armed robbery and burglary.
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