Delaware State Police Use DNA Evidence and Charge Seaford Man for Multiple Burglaries

Sussex County, DE - The Delaware State Police have arrested James Deshields, a 57-year old man from Seaford, Delaware, on charges of burglary and related offenses in Sussex County, Delaware. This follows a series of burglaries that took place in homes under construction.

In September 2025, police responded to multiple incidents where the suspect entered homes and either removed or attempted to remove refrigerators from the homes.

During and in the process of removing the refrigerators from the homes, the suspect cut the water lines that were connected to those refrigerators.

The Sussex County Criminal Investigations Unit took over the cases. Detectives discovered that a suspect and a Honda CRV were seen at several of the crime scenes, and through further investigation, they identified James Deshields as a prime suspect.

Additionally, they learned that both the Georgetown Police Department and the Seaford Police Department were looking into similar burglaries and other criminal incidents.

On September 23, 2025, James Deshields was arrested for an unrelated matter.

While he was in custody, detectives obtained a DNA search warrant to compare his DNA with evidence collected from one of the burglary scenes. Deshields initially resisted the attempt for detectives to obtain a DNA sample, however it was successfully acquired and sent to the Division of Forensic Science for testing.

Earlier this month, the Division of Forensic Science provided a report that linked Deshields to the crimes, prompting detectives to obtain a warrant for his arrest.

On February 17, 2026, Deshields was arrested without incident and taken to Troop 4, where he faced multiple charges. He was subsequently arraigned by the Justice of the Peace Court 2 and released on a $27,500 unsecured bond.

Deshields has been charged with the following:

• Burglary Second Degree (Felony) - 3 counts


• Theft $1500 or Greater (Felony) - 3 counts


• Attempted Theft $1500 or Greater (Felony)


• Conspiracy Second Degree (Felony)


• Resisting Arrest


• Criminal Mischief Under $1000 - 3 counts


• Criminal Trespass Second Degree
  

  
  

Disclosure: All individuals mentioned in this article are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Eastern Shore Undercover® does not express or imply any opinion regarding the incident reported.