Rhode Island Man Convicted of Rehoboth House Break Due to DNA Evidence
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
Thomas M. Quinn III
District Attorney
PRESS RELEASE
November 1 , 2016
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced today that a 39 year old Rhode Island man will serve up to five years in state prison after his conviction in Superior Court relating to his role in a housebreak in Rehoboth.
Vincent Derrico, who lists addresses in North Providence, Warwick, Lincoln, and Coventry, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty last week to two cases charging him with breaking and entering in the daytime, larceny from a building, and failure to appear in court. Assistant District Attorney William J. Flynn III and defense attorney Robert Eagan submitted an unagreed plea to Judge Raffi Yessayan. Prosecutors argued for a total of up to seven years and one day in prison with two years of probation after release while defense counsel argued for up to four years in prison with two years of probation after release. Judge Yessayan ultimately sentenced the defendant to serve up to five years in state prison with two years of probation after his release.
On June 28, 2012, Rehoboth police were dispatched to a home for a report of a break into the victims’ home with access gained through a broken rear window. One of the homeowners had come home to find blood in the stairwell and a broken window in the bathroom. Upon further inspection, the homeowners found an upstairs bedroom had been rifled through and everything was out of place. Multiple items were found to have been stolen from the home including money and numerous expensive heirloom pieces of jewelry. State police technicians from the crime lab photographed the scene and processed the blood samples and fingerprints from a screen inside the home.
On June 12, 2014, Rehoboth police received correspondence from the Massachusetts State Police Forensic and Technology Center regarding a CODIS match related to this case. The CODIS match was linked to the DNA profile of Vincent Derrico, who was incarcerated in Rhode Island. An arrest warrant was then issued. After the defendant’s arraignment in Superior Court, he was released on bail, and defaulted. After eight months, he was located and arrested by state police.
“This is another example of the utility of having felons registered in the states DNA database,” said District Attorney Quinn. “Without this in place, this case and others like it would not have been solved. I want to thank the state and local police detectives for the thorough processing of the scene.”
Contact:
Gregg Miliote
Director of Communications
508-997-0711
774-292-9576—cell