A half-eaten cinnamon roll helped Madison police track down a suspected car thief.

The car was stolen Monday about 4:30 a.m. The driver parked at a hotel with the key in the ignition, and when he walked inside he heard his car start up. Surveillance video got a glimpse of the suspect, who was seen eating something.

A police officer found a half-eaten cinnamon roll in the parking lot. He went to a nearby restaurant that sells similar pastries, and a staffer there described the customer.

The staffer also noted that the man had been dropped off by a Sun Prairie police officer, after the friend who’d been driving him was arrested for drunken driving.

Sun Prairie police helped the Madison officer locate the 26-year-old suspect.