'Serial Burglar' In Delco Busted By DNA Evidence: Police

MEDIA, PA — DNA evidence was crucial in apprehending a man police called a "serial burglar" in Delaware County, according to authorities.

Police in Nether Providence Township said DNA found on a latex glove from a 2023 crime scene led to the arrest of Carmen Carozza, 55, of Philadelphia. He was already incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution in Somerset in an unrelated case, and he remains in that facility.

He is charged with one count each of felony burglary and trespass, and misdemeanor theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.

On Sept. 1, 2023, police were dispatched to the home on Rose Valley Road in the Media section of Nether Providence Township.

According to the probable-cause affidavit by Detective James Irey, a family member came to the house to find drawers in the living room and bedrooms open and empty, and some jewelry strewn across one of the beds and nearby floor.

The family member reported a rare coin collection and some women’s clothing missing.

Irey, who processed the scene, determined the intruder appeared to have entered the house through an unsecured basement window, but then forced open a locked basement door leading to the living room.

On the floor in the main bedroom, he found a white latex glove, which was sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Laboratory for forensic analysis.

In July 2024, Pennsylvania State Police notified Irey that a DNA profile was recovered from the glove through the Combined DNA Index System and was preliminarily matched to Pasquale Carozza.

Additionally, Carrozza’s DNA was potentially the same contributor to samples previously submitted by two law enforcement agencies investigating burglaries in 2023.

Irey’s investigation determined that Pasquale Carozza is an alias for Carmen N. Carrozza. The name Carmen N. Carrozza was confirmed through a Pennsylvania driver’s license, along with Carrozza's criminal history documented in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

On Aug. 7, 2024, Irey and a state police trooper were granted a search warrant in Cumberland County for a DNA buccal swab of Carrozza. At that time, Carrozza was incarcerated at SCI Camp Hill. That buccal swab was sent to the state police crime lab for DNA analysis.

In October 2024, the DNA buccal swab submission was returned from the state police lab. Analysis confirmed Carrozza was a contributor to the DNA profile collected from the latex glove at the burglary scene on Rose Valley Road.

Carrozza’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 21 in Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth Gallard’s court.