DNA connects Bluffton man to 2 more burglaries

DNA has linked a Bluffton man accused of at least 20 burglaries on Hilton Head Island to two more.

Steven Crabtree, 30, was arrested Oct. 15 after deputies were led on a chase when an employee of Island Bagel Company witnessed a man throwing a rock through a glass door, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office release.

Multiple properties across the island had been broken into in a similar way, with rocks thrown through windows.

Crabtree was charged with fleeing to evade, illegal drug possession and two second-degree burglary counts at that time, the release said.

He was charged with first-degree burglary the following day after evidence collected during a September burglary was found to match his DNA profile, the release said.

Unable to post his $275,000 bond, Crabtree has remained in the Beaufort County Detention Center since October.

In March, Crabtree was charged with malicious injury to property in relation to the Island Bagel Company case, the release said.

This week, the Sheriff’s Office’s Forensics Services Laboratory found that DNA evidence collected following a burglary at Beauty Salon of Hilton Head on Oct. 12 also matched Crabtree, so he was changed with an additional count of third-degree burglary.

Crabtree is a person of interest in multiple area burglaries.

Anyone with information about crimes he may have committed can contact the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Southern Criminal Division at 843-255-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 7:43 PM with the headline "DNA connects Bluffton man to 2 more burglaries."