BERLIN — German police say they have solved a nine-year-old burglary after DNA found on a half-eaten piece of sausage matched that of a man detained in France over an unrelated crime.

Police in the western town of Schwelm said Thursday that the sausage belonged to the victim, and the suspect — a 30-year-old Albanian citizen — appeared to have helped himself to a bite during the March 2012 break-in.

Investigators were recently alerted that French police had taken a matching DNA sample from a man involved in a violent crime.

But Schwelm police said the suspect remains free and, in the wurst case, he may escape punishment. The statute of limitations on the burglary has expired, meaning he will likely not be extradited to Germany.