Pizza Hut robber faceplants into door and leaves behind a crucial clue, NM cops say

He may have gotten away with it if one thing didn’t get in his way: the door at Pizza Hut.

Markell Deshaun Barnes, 19, has been arrested by the Las Cruces Police Department, according to a police release. Investigators say they connected him to the crime using DNA from when the New Mexico man faceplanted into a door at a Pizza Hut restaurant while he was trying to escape after an armed robbery.

It all started on June 25 with two robberies — first at a Giant gas station and then at a Las Cruces Pizza Hut.

Police realized that the two robberies were most likely committed by the same person and reviewed surveillance footage. They say the suspect ran and faceplanted into a locked door before taking a different exit.

Officers swabbed the door for any DNA evidence and then sent it to a forensic laboratory in Santa Fe. The DNA was then entered into the Combined DNA Index System known as CODIS. It matched to a sample belonging to Barnes, police say.

Police arrested Barnes last week in Albuquerque. He was transferred to Dona Ana County Detention Center where he’s being held without bail.

More charges are expected to be filed against Barnes for the robbery at the Giant gas station, police said.

This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 7:15 AM with the headline "Pizza Hut robber faceplants into door and leaves behind a crucial clue, NM cops say."