Noel C. Agosto-Acevedo Mug.png

Noel C. Agosto-Acevedo, 32, of the 100 Block of Dauphin Street, Lancaster.

(Lancaster city police)

Police credited surveillance footage, fingerprints from a crime scene and solid police work in linking a Lancaster man to two burglaries earlier this month.

Noel C. Agosto-Acevedo, 32, of the 100 Block of Dauphin Street, was arrested May 22 by Lancaster police in the 100 block of East New Street on a bench warrant, according to a police press release. Officers quickly noted Agosto-Acevedo's resemblance to an unidentified man seen on multiple surveillance cameras in the scene of two home-invasion burglaries reported May 16, police said.

During one of the burglaries, in the 300 block of North Mulberry Street, the suspect was scared off when one of the residents woke up and saw him, police said.

Detectives recovered a fingerprint from the scene and used the witness' description of the suspect — who had been wearing all red clothing — to track the man's movements using footage from several security cameras in the area, according to the release.

A comparison of Agotsto-Acevedo's fingerprint to the print lifted from the burglary resulted in a match, police said.

Police were also investigating a second burglary a few blocks away on North Mulberry that was reported at approximately 9 a.m. May 16, about two hours after the first break-in, in which the victim reported several personal items were taken from their home overnight, according to the release.

After speaking with the victim of the second burglary, police determined several of the stolen items were used at nearby stores and surveillance footage was examined from even more cameras, police said.

Based on the footage, police identified Agosto-Acevedo as a suspect in the second burglary, the release states.

Aside from his prior bench warrant, Agosto-Acevedo was charged with two counts of burglary, four counts of access device fraud and a single count of theft by unlawful taking, police said.

Magisterial District Judge Bruce A. Roth ordered Agosto-Acevedo held on $100,000 bail at his arraignment Thursday. A preliminary hearing was scheduled in Agosto-Acevedo's case for June 12, court records state.