Montgomery County police said DNA evidence on a sock led to the arrest of a Hyattsville man for his role in a brutal home invasion armed robbery that happened over 18 years ago in the Maryland county.
On Jan. 22, 2003, Montgomery police said Stacy Howard Moore and two other suspects, posing as police officers, forced their way into an apartment in the 9100 block of Piney Branch Road near Carroll Avenue in Silver Spring.
Police said Moore and the other suspects confronted a 31-year-old man as he was about enter his apartment around 6 p.m. and forced their way in. Two of the men were armed. The man’s 28-year-old wife, seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter were already inside the apartment.
They bound the family of four in duct tape. They stabbed the husband, burned the back of his neck with a heated knife, doused him in bleach and threatened to cut out his eyes. They threatened to shoot the children.
Police said 2 1/2 hours later, the husband’s younger brother came to the apartment where he too was assaulted and bound with duct tape. The suspects left the scene with stolen items around 8:30 p.m.
All three suspects used socks they found in the apartment to cover their hands but left the socks at the scene. Those socks were taken into evidence where DNA was gathered.
Eighteen years later on March 22, 2021, Montgomery County’s crime lab got a hit from DNA evidence on one of those socks. It matched with Moore’s DNA profile.
Investigators said there was no known connection between Moore and the victims.
Moore has been charged with numerous counts including assault, armed robbery and false imprisonment. Moore, who is now 48, was arrested on April 22 and charged with first-degree burglary, the use of a handgun during the commission of a felony, three counts of armed robbery, five counts of first-degree assault and five counts of false imprisonment.
He is being held without bond.
Detectives are still trying to identify the remaining two suspects.
Anyone who may have any information regarding this home invasion robbery is asked to call the police at 240-773-5100.