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June 18, 2009

DNA catches ‘spit bandit’

Sommer Woodward

DNA evidence has linked a man in an Oklahoma prison to a Chouteau school burglary from 2006.

Randy Shoopman, 34, was identified from DNA evidence taken from a drinking bottle at the scene of a burglary where the thief took money from vending machines at Chouteau Schools in October 2006.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) notified Chouteau Assistant Chief Lynn Hershberger of the match around the first of June.

Hershberger interviewed Shoopman last Friday, and he confessed to the Chouteau burglary and two others in Locust Grove and Salina, where the schools were broken in to and money was stolen from vending machines in 2006 and 2007.

Hershberger said Shoopman is in Department of Corrections (DOC) custody for similar crimes in Adair, Wagoner and Cherokee counties.

Shoopman was picked up in Missouri for a burglary, and fingerprints were taken, linking him to a burglary of a school in Sallisaw from 2006.

DNA evidence was taken from tobacco spit in the Sallisaw case, and others in Wagoner and Cherokee counties. At the time, authorities in those areas saw the similarity in the burglaries and began calling the suspect the “Spit Bandit.”

When authorities spoke with Shoopman about the Sallisaw burglary, he confessed and was arrested. He’s currently serving a seven year sentence for burglary.

The information from the Chouteau, Salina and Locust Grove burglaries is being compiled and will be delivered to the district attorney’s office to determine if any charges will be filed.

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