Last February, a man attempted to steal a white sports car from an Arco gas station in Vancouver. One year later, DNA evidence led Washington authorities to the suspect.
The year-long pursuit combined advanced technology — and a bit of luck.
On Feb. 21, 2023, a man was pumping the tires of his car on Northeast 99th Street when another person, now identified as Geoffrey Boal, approached the driver’s side, jumped in and tried to drive away, police said. The owner then hopped into the moving car from the passenger’s side, and the two men punched each other in the face, police said. The suspect got out of the car and ran away, a press release from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said.
Detectives later found video footage that showed the suspect fleeing the scene and ditching his clothes, which police then grabbed for DNA analysis.
The Washington State Patrol lab told investigators the DNA on the clothes matched Boal’s, but detectives could not track him down, until recently.
Multiple Washington-area law enforcement agencies banded together for a stolen vehicle operation on Jan. 26. They spotted Boal, who was allegedly in a stolen car at the time, and Vancouver police arrested him on unrelated warrants, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detective Tanya Johnson retrieved additional evidence linking Boal to the February 2023 attempted carjacking, the sheriff’s office said. He now faces a first-degree robbery charge in the 2023 case.
