On Feb. 20 of this year, Donald Leon Howard was stopped by the police at the Country Store Gas Station at the corner of Western Drive and 260 in the Verde Villages, just before 5 p.m.
Deputy Truax of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office reportedly suspected Howard had been driving with canceled insurance. The deputy quickly determined that Howard was driving not only without insurance, but with a suspended license.
Searching the vehicle, Truax found a small hole in the floor of the car on the driver’s side, about 2 inches in diameter. Below the hole, sitting on the pavement, was a small baggie with what the officer assessed was .65 grams of methamphetamine.
Howard told the deputy that the bag was his and he did not want to deny it. Howard was arrested, and then released after an agreement with the Yavapai County Attorney to handle the charges at a later date. He then disappeared from law enforcement for several months, before being arrested on May 31, in Camp Verde.
This was not Howard’s first time running afoul of the law, nor his first time being charged with drug possession. It was not even his first time being caught driving without a license. But it was a run-in with the criminal justice system that would set in motion the events that led to Howard’s death.
On Nov. 7, Howard, 35, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a four-hour standoff with police. It was the end of a life that had been marked by frequent encounters with law enforcement.
In November 2001, Howard was caught in possession of marijuana and charged. Since then, he has been in front of courts all over the state for numerous drug crimes, as well as carrying a concealed weapon without a license, driving recklessly and without a license, shoplifting, escaping from a second-degree correctional facility in Gila County, disorderly conduct, writing bad checks, and threats. In 2009, Howard pleaded guilty to third degree burglary and spent nearly three months in prison.
In the months since Howard’s arrest in May, he stopped attending his court hearings, and by late September, his defense counsel informed the Yavapai Superior Court that they did not know his whereabouts.
The court issued a warrant for Howard’s arrest on Oct. 3.
A month later, on Nov. 7, the YCSO arrested Sabrina Galloway, a 19-year-old resident of the house at 719 Desert Jewel Drive in the Verde Villages, where they determined Howard was living, for possession of meth and heroin for sale.
That evening, detectives from the YCSO, as well as Partners Against Narcotics Trafficking Task Force, executed the search warrant against Howard at 719 Desert Jewel Drive. Officers came with multiple cars and back up, prepared for a potential confrontation.
According to YCSO spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn, “Detectives had third-party info that Howard made statements he did not want to go back to prison and may have a weapon. He was also under investigation for burglary.”
When police showed up, four adults left the house and surrendered.
Howard reportedly kicked the door closed and started firing his handgun. At one point, he called 911 and spoke with officers, considering turning himself in, before allegedly changing his mind and shooting more. After nearly four hours, Howard took his own life.
“I’m just so sad for the guy,” said Christopher Dobrowolski, Howard’s neighbor across the street, who watched the standoff from a window as stray bullets from Howard’s gun hit the walls of his house. “That hopelessness I saw on his face, looking out through his window, told me a lot. He wasn’t angry. He didn’t have that angry look. He had that scared, hopeless look the entire time.
“And I think that’s why he called 911, that he wanted to give up, but then something happened and changed his mind.
“It wasn’t the officers attacking him because they gave him plenty of space and plenty of opportunity to give himself away,” Dobrowolski said. “But he was helpless. Helpless and hopeless. Scared, you name it.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
