Ryan A. Mueller

It took nearly five months, but the case appears to be solved. DNA evidence has confirmed Ryan A. Mueller to be a piggy bank robber.

From the Sheboygan Press:

A 30-year-old Sheboygan Falls man snuck into the bedroom of a sleeping 2-year-old girl and stole $20 from her piggy bank, officials said Thursday.

Charges were filed in the case Thursday after DNA evidence linked the Aug. 10 crime to Ryan A. Mueller, of 226-A Poplar St., according to a criminal complaint. Mueller faces up to nine years, six months in prison if convicted on a charge of felony burglary.

According to authorities:

The girl's mother told police she was with her 1-year-old daughter in another room when she saw a light turn on and went to investigate. She walked into the 2-year-old's room to find Mueller shaking the piggy bank as the girl slept in her bed.

Mueller fled before authorities arrived at the home, which is in the 4200 block of South 12th Street in the Town of Wilson. He left the piggy bank behind but took the money.

Technicians at the state crime lab matched blood drops found on a window blind to Mueller, who had forced his way into the home through a window screen.

Thank God Mueller was only after money and didn't harm the little girl.

It had to be terrifying for the mother to find a man in her 2-year-old's room.

I wonder what Mueller expected to get from that piggy bank. As a general rule, I don't think piggy banks in little girls' rooms hold large amounts of money.

He seems like an amateur thief, an incredibly stupid one at that. Why did he stay in the home instead of just taking the bank? It doesn't take a lot of smarts to know that staying in the room of a child and shaking a bank isn't a good strategy.

Mueller screwed up his life for $20. Crime doesn't pay.

I love that DNA evidence.