Charles Co. Suspect charged with two counts of first-degree assault and race/religious crime against a person or group

newsBot · 2024-10-21T17:13:00-0400

On October 20 at 4:04 p.m., an officer was parked in his marked patrol car in the parking lot of a business in White Plains when a man ran up stating that someone had just pointed a shotgun at him. The officer quickly located the suspect and observed a shotgun in the suspect’s vehicle. A preliminary investigation showed the victim and suspect were inside the business when an argument ensued. During the argument, the suspect used a racial slur to refer to the victim and the person accompanying him. The argument continued outside to the parking lot. The victims began loading their purchases into their vehicle as the suspect continued using racial slurs. The suspect then pulled out a shotgun and held it in the air before pointing it in the direction of the victims. At that point, one of the victims ran to the officer for help. The suspect, Harold Andrew Howard, age 53, of Waldorf, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree assault and committing a race/religious crime against a person or group. Howard is currently being held at the Charles County Detention Center without bond. M/Sgt. Cooney investigated.

Harold Andrew Howard

CONTACT: Diane Richardson
Media Relations Office
301-609-6557 or 240-682-1658

The CCSO was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) in 2001 and has since earned the highest rating of Excellence. Established in 1658, the CCSO is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States. For more information, visit www.ccso.us.

Charles County Crime Solvers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest or indictment of a person responsible for a crime in Charles County. All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. Anyone with information about an unsolved crime or the location of a fugitive may contact Charles County Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted online at www.charlescountycrimesolvers.com or by using the P3Intel mobile app, which can be found in the Android Store and Apple Store by searching P3tips. For more information about the P3 program, click on this link: www.p3intel.com.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: https://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at https://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at https://so.md/expungeme.