Blood samples collected from a stolen vehicle put a convicted felon back in jail last week as DNA testing connected a Pontiac man to a carjacking in Independence Township last fall.
Eugene Edward Latimer, 44, was charged with carjacking and strong-arm robbery in the Sept. 1 incident that left a 52-year-old Independence Township woman injured after she was attacked in Kroger’s parking lot Sept. 1.
The alleged assault took place about 8:50 a.m. in the south parking lot of the Kroger store at 6625 Dixie Highway, near Maybee Road.
Det. John McDonald of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Independence Township substation, who was investigating the case, said Latimer has prior convictions and was on parole at the time of the incident.
According to police reports reviewed by The Clarkston News in September, the woman told police she arrived for work, parked on the building’s south side and was attacked as she exited her vehicle. The attacker, she said, approached quickly, struck her several times in the face with a closed fist, attempted to force her back into the vehicle and, at one point, choked her.
She was eventually able to break free and witnesses said the man sped south on Dixie Highway in her car.
Police said the woman suffered substantial bruising and contusions to her face, a laceration on her forehead, and what appeared to be a fractured eye orbit as a result of the incident.
But McDonald said the man was injured as well’he most likely cut his hand on the woman’s eyeglasses as he punched her in the face’and blood from that injury pointed police in his direction.
DNA samples from all convicted felons are entered into CODIS’Combined DNA Index System’McDonald said, giving investigators an advantage over habitual offenders.
Latimer, who also matched the physical description given by the victim, is currently held on $1 million bond, no 10 percent.