Eugene Man Caught After Leaving Blood Trail During $20,000 Jewelry Heist

EUGENE, Ore. — Following up on a crime scene after a bold robbery of $20,000 worth of jewelry from a kiosk at Valley River Center, a trail of blood droplets led Eugene police to Wayne Wood, who has a criminal history including assault, burglary, and kidnapping.

Wood was arrested a month after the robbery for trespassing, drug offenses, and providing false information to police, but by then, law enforcement had already identified him as a suspect in the jewelry theft.

Wood was wearing the same shoes during his trespassing arrest as those worn during the Valley River robbery and is already in the Lane County Jail. A note in the jewelry theft investigation indicated that Wood had a cut on his hand, possessed 10-karat gold, and had been wearing “gaudy pieces” around his neck since the robbery.

Eugene police tied the note to surveillance footage of the Valley River theft, which showed a man entering the shopping mall armed with an axe and a crowbar, smashing the kiosk’s glass and stealing jewelry.

Their suspect had cut his hand, and left a trail of blood droplets and the crowbar and axe behind. The DNA from the evidence matched that of Wayne Wood’s blood. Acting on a search warrant, police later discovered that Wood sold one of the stolen gold chains to Eugene Gold and Jewelry.

Wood now faces charges of first-degree aggravated theft and first-degree criminal mischief and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 29.