PROSPECT — Talk about mailing it in.

A suspected burglar unintentionally delivered himself to state police after he returned by way of mail checks he allegedly stole in April 2008 from a Prospect business where he used to work.

Some of those checks contained the blood stains from the injured suspect. DNA tests, made possible from the blood, helped crack the case more than a year after the crime, authorities said.

Investigators last week named Vincent Patrick Greco, 29, of Portersville as the suspect in the case.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Greco, who is charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief.

Police began investigating the case April 26, 2008, when the burglary was discovered at Smardt Equipment.

A bank bag with a small amount of cash and 16 checks was reportedly stolen. The checks and money totaled $7,586.

The suspect later mailed back several checks that he couldn't use for himself, court documents said. He apparently did not realize, however, that he had bled on some of those same checks he returned.

Police sent the blood-stained checks to the state police crime lab in Greenburg, Westmoreland, where tests yielded DNA evidence.

Forensic investigators were able to trace the DNA in the blood to Greco, a convicted felon whose DNA was previously entered into a law enforcement database.

Investigators noted that the defendant used to work at the business so he had "a working knowledge of the facilities and the hours of operation," a police affidavit said.

Ken Hardt, owner of Smardt Equipment, told the Butler Eagle that Greco was employed at his business "only briefly." The suspect's employment was terminated about five years ago, Hardt said.

Greco in 2006 was convicted of robbery in Beaver County, according to court records.

Meanwhile, he is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in Butler County Court in connection with last year's theft of business checks from an Oakland Township auto body shop.