County police used fingerprint and DNA evidence collected after an armed carjacking in Montgomery County to help identify a suspect.
Dante Tyler-El, 53, of Hyattsville, has been charged with armed robbery, armed carjacking, kidnapping, the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and first-degree assault for carjacking a 46-year-old woman in Gaithersburg a week ago, county police said Tuesday.
Police said the woman was in her parked car in Gaithersburg when Tyler-El approached her armed with a handgun and wearing a yellow construction vest and hard hat. He threatened her, and demanded money, handcuffed her and put her in the back seat of the car, according to police.
As Tyler-El searched the car for property, the woman screamed, and he struck her with the handgun, police said. He then drove about 100 yards, stopped the car and fled.
Forensic investigators got fingerprints and DNA from the car, which were sent to a regional fingerprint database, police said.
Two days after the carjacking, detectives were notified of a match in the database on June 7, and obtained an arrest warrant for Tyler-El.
County police didn’t have to track down Tyler-El. He had been arrested by the Maryland Transportation Authority Police on June 6 for driving a stolen vehicle near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, police said.
Officers found a handgun, construction vest and hard hats in the stolen vehicle, according to police.
Tyler-El is being held without bond in the Queen Anne’s County Detention Center on the stolen vehicle and handgun charges. Online records did not list an attorney for Tyler-El as of Tuesday afternoon.
Charlie Wright can be reached at charlie.wright@moco360.media
