Michele Zachariah was born in Whittier, California and raised in Fullerton. Michele attended and graduated from Fullerton High School and went on to obtain her Associate in Arts degree from Fullerton College. While attending Fullerton College, Michele earned the distinct honor of obtaining membership to the President’s Honor List. Michele continued her education at California State University, Fullerton and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development. Michele has been assigned to the Police Services Unit since her hire date in 2003.

On August 25, 2010 at 1609 hours PSO Michele Zachariah responded to 1192 Mear Lane to conduct CSI for a residential burglary. The victims had returned to find forced entry into their home as well as the suspect still inside the residence. The suspect had ransacked the home and taken property. As the suspect exited the residence he was confronted by the victim. The suspect ignored the victim when spoken too causing the victim to slap the suspect across the face as he left.

When PSO Zachariah arrived on scene she immediately contacted responding officers to obtain information about the scene. When she heard about the victim slapping the suspect she immediately began to prioritize the protocol for processing the scene. Knowing that DNA evidence needed to be preserved as soon as possible, she contacted the victim and asked him if he had washed his hands. When he assured her he had not, she immediately processed his right hand for possible suspect DNA.

PSO Zachariah then conducted a walk-through of the scene, searching for latent print evidence, with negative results. Since the residence was ransacked, she selected items that she believed may have been handled by the suspect and processed them for possible DNA.

On December 21, 2010 the Orange County Crime Lab notified TPD of a CODIS hit identifying a suspect in this case. The hit came from the sample PSO Zachariah collected from the victim’s hand. Without PSO Zachariah’s dedication and diligence, the suspect in this case may never have been identified, much less found. At the time of this crime the suspect had been previously convicted of two violent felonies (strikes). The suspect is now facing a three-strikes prosecution for this crime, as well as for an armed carjacking that occurred in the City of Westminster.

PSO Zachariah is a crime scene investigator who routinely receives latent print and DNA hits resulting in the identification of suspects. She takes great pride in her work and strives to go the extra mile to ensure she has done everything possible to assist with solving each case. It is with great pleasure that I nominate PSO Michele Zachariah for the Tustin Chamber of Commerce Officer of the Month award.