Sheriff, police chief pick up fugitive in New York
Local authorities flew to New York this past weekend to arrest and bring back the fourth person accused in connection with the June 4 shooting at a gas station in Eatonton.
Gary Daiquion Howard, 18, of Westbury, N.Y., is now in Putnam County Jail facing charges including 12 counts of aggravated assault, five counts of criminal damage to property second degree, two counts of cruelty to children first degree, three counts of criminal trespass, and one count failure to appear.
“A lot of jurisdictions won’t travel to the next state, but we’re going to do what we have to do to protect our community,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said. “It’s what we took our oath to do, and we’re going to do it.”
Noting that the sheriff of each jurisdiction is the one who makes the decision to extradite a suspect, Cardwell said he and Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills flew from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta Sunday morning to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. They returned during the wee hours of the morning on Monday.
“I want it known by all criminals that if you do shootings in Putnam County, I will go get you no matter where you are,” Sills said, echoing Cardwell’s sentiments.
Gary Howard is reportedly one of four people who opened gunfire in the parking lot of the Shell Food Mart on Sumter Street around 2 a.m. Sunday, June 4.
The gas station is open 24/7, and about 10 people were in the parking lot at the time, according to previous reports. The shooters and the group in the parking lot reportedly were rival gang members. More than 30 shell casings of .9s, .40s, and .223s were reportedly found by authorities in the parking lot of the Shell, in front of a daycare across the street, and inside a residence across the street where two toddlers were sleeping.
Two days later, Eatonton Police Department and Putnam County Sheriff’s Office law enforcement officers joined Milledgeville Police Department officers, Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Macon-Bibb K9 units, and state probation officers in a raid on a residence on Pennington Road in Milledgeville.
Arrested at that time in connection with the shooting were Miyah Pittman, 19, Jaquavious Solomon, 17, and a 14-year-old who remains unidentified due to his age.
Warrants were issued for Howard and after it was learned he was no longer in the area, Sills and Cardwell notified the U.S. Marshals Service.
They located him in New York a couple of months ago and placed a hold on him, Cardwell said.
Howard refused to waive extradition twice in that time frame but did so Thursday, and Sills and Cardwell wasted no time getting their plane tickets.
“We will go to no ends to protect and serve our city and county,” Cardwell said.