Severed finger left at scene of alleged copper caper leads to suspect's arrest
An Arizona man has been charged with misdemeanor theft based on evidence left at the alleged crime scene: a severed finger.
Joshua Allen Goverman, 29, of Glendale was arrested after police retrieved the finger near a spool of copper cable that had apparently been pulled off a truck, report the Associated Press, the Arizona Republic and Fox4KC.com. An air conditioning employee told police he believed someone had tried to steal the cable, valued at $300, from his work vehicle.
Police were able to obtain a fingerprint, which led to Goverman, police say. He was missing a finger; Goverman first attributed the loss to an accident while he tried to repair a car. Goverman also posted a picture of his hand with the missing digit on Facebook.
The Glendale Police Department publicized the Oct. 7 attempted theft and later arrest in a news release (PDF) on Oct. 30. “This Halloween, you may wonder what the ‘creepiest’ thing is in the Glendale Police Evidence Storage Room,” the release says. “How about a frozen finger? This October, just in time for Halloween, a cut off finger has found its way into the Glendale Police Evidence Room. The finger left at the scene of an attempted theft ‘pointed’ police directly to the suspect, and his own finger put him behind bars!”
The news release ends with the police department wishing everyone a safe Halloween.
