Escaped killer caught...finally

On the loose for almost 2 months: Cops finally caught up with Shateek Howard, the teenage murder suspect who's been outfoxing them at every turn.

According to the police report, officers on "routine" patrol came across Howard and his partner-in-crime, Antoine Henry, yesterday (4.1.09) around 5:30 p.m. in the Iberville Housing Project, in the shadow of the French Quarter.

"Routine" patrol? You mean a suspected escaped murdered doesn't merit a full-scale dragnet?"

Howard, 16, is suspected in the shooting death of a 19-year-old black girl Uptown on 9.21.08 and the wounding of her boyfriend. Henry, 19, is suspected in a shooting the day before (9.20.08) in Mid-city.

Sounds like real buddies: "Hey, you got to shoot somebody yesterday--today it's my turn!"

Howard was booked into the juvenile detention center last night on one charge of murder and one of attempted murder, plus a separate charge of armed robbery.

He's back in the care of the same folks whose carelessness on Feb. 11 resulted in Howard escaping while they escorted him from Juvenile Court on Loyola Avenue. He bolted right for the Iberville Projects--happy hunting ground for bad guys--and eluded the NOPD time and again.

He's just lucky his victim was not a white or he'd be in big-people's prison like the kids who supposedly killed the white woman bartender in the Quarter.

Henry was booked into Central Lockup just before midnight last night on 2 counts of aggravated battery (apparently from the shooting he's accused of) and 3 counts of armed robbery (from another incident), plus a charge of possessing crack cocaine and another of resisting arrest for a fight after he was apprehended.

Police reportedly took a stolen semi-automatic pistol off of him when he was arrested and said they will also charge him as being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pled guilty in 2007 when he was 17 to carrying a concealed weapon.

Why in the world was this scumbag running loose? He certainly wasn't a good influence on Shateek Howard.

Another CBD robbery: A black couple walking in the 400 block of Gravier Street, near Harrah's Casino, were held up early this morning (4.2.09) around 3 a.m.

A black guy got out of the passenger's side of a parked car and flashed a silver-colored object in his waistband that looked like a gun, demanding their money. They complied and the man fled in the car, which went down Gravier and turned on to Tchoupitoulas Street toward Poydras Street.

The car was described as a brown or beige 2-door late 80's model Buick. The robber was described as 5'9" tall, weighing 130 pounds, with a dark complexion, moustache and shoulder-length braids, wearing a long white T-shirt and blue jeans.

Pursesnatchers nabbed: Two episodes of pursesnatchings at the exact same time (8:40 p.m.) in different parts of the 8th District last night (4.1.09) resulted in arrests:

• 700 block of Royal Street (behind St. Louis Cathedral): A white woman was walking along when she was approached by a black dude who panhandled her for money. When she refused, he tried to grab her purse from her shoulder, but she fought back, giving a security guard (from where? Rouse's Market at St. Peter Street?) time to intervene. Officers arrived on the scene and arrested Jarred Simmons, 17, charging him with attempted simple robbery.

• 100 block of S. Peters Street (near Harrah's Casino): A white woman walking along the street was accosted by a black man who grabbed her purse from her shoulder. He was grabbed by a witness as he tried to flee and was held until officers arrived. They arrested Purnell Madison, 61, and charged him with pursesnatching.
  

* * *

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome at NOcrimeline@gmail.com

Thom Kahler