FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Case # 18HF0459
Date: March 29, 2018
OCDA RAPID DNA PROGRAM RAPIDLY IDENTIFIES FELON CHARGED WITH ROBBING MISSION VIEJO DONUT SHOP CASHIER AT KNIFEPOINT
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) Rapid DNA Program quickly provided the identity of a felon charged with robbing a donut shop cashier in Mission Viejo at knifepoint.
|
Defendant |
Charges |
Maximum Sentence |
Court Date |
|
Travis Dereck Allard, 30, Concord |
Charged on March 26, 2018, with the following felony counts:
Sentencing Enhancement
|
18 years in state prison |
Arraignment
March 29, 2018, time to be determined
Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana |
Circumstances of the Case
- At approximately 6:25 a.m. on March 21, 2018, Allard is accused of entering Pink Ribbon Donuts in Mission Viejo.
- The defendant is accused of ordering two donuts before brandishing a knife and demanding cash.
- Allard is further accused of stealing the cash drawer and fleeing the scene.
- Later that morning, the stolen cash drawer was located in Lake Forest behind a beauty salon.
- Orange County Sheriff Department (OCSD) investigators located blood drops on the ground and blood on pieces of the cash drawer and submitted the evidence to the OCDA Rapid DNA Program for forensic analysis.
- On March 22, 2018, the OCDA Rapid DNA Program was able to develop a DNA profile from the crime scene sample that matched the defendant’s DNA profile in OCDA’s Local DNA Database.
- OCDA Investigators provided OCSD with suspect information and OCSD deputies arrested Allard on March 27, 2018.
Prosecutor: Deputy District Attorney Andrew Katz, DNA Unit
Rapid DNA Program
The Rapid DNA program merges the power of the OCDA Local DNA Database with cutting edge DNA technology to provide investigators with leads, including suspect names, within hours of a crime. The program launched in 2015 and is available to all local law enforcement. The IntegenX RapidHIT 200 DNA instrument, which was validated for use with the assistance of the Orange County Crime Lab (OCCL), can generate a DNA profile from evidence collected at a crime scene in less than two hours. If suitable, that crime scene DNA profile is searched against the Local OCDA DNA Database, which was established in 2007 and is now the largest consensual DNA database in the country. The Rapid DNA program is supported by Proposition 69 funding and is a collaborative effort among the OCDA, OCCL and local law enforcement to harness the power of science and technology to promote justice and enhance public safety.