Frightening details emerged as James Wesley Howell, 20, pleaded not guilty in the Airport courthouse to charges that could send him to prison for almost 10 years. The misdemeanor charge was for possession of a loaded weapon.
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Police said Howell admitted to officers that he fled IN “due to his concerns” over pending criminal charges, according to Leone’s statement IN court records.
Authorities say an IN man charged IN California with weapons violations before a major gay pride parade had a high-capacity assault rifle, two other loaded rifles, 15 pounds of commercially sold explosive, a stun gun and buck knife IN his vehicle when he was arrested.
(AP Photo/Nick Ut). Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney speaks after the arraignment of James Wesley Howell, 20, of IN, IN Superior Court IN Los Angeles Tuesday, June 14, 2016.
James Howell is seen in an appearance at the Airport Courthouse on June 14, 2016.
An Indiana man has been charged with felony weapons violations after California authorities say he was found with three assault rifles and explosive chemicals in his auto ahead of a major gay pride parade.
Alone, each item found in the vehicle might not indicate anything sinister, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz said at Howell’s first court appearance Tuesday. An ex-boyfriend, 17-year-old Zach Hambrick, said Howell wasn’t open about his sexuality.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed Tuesday that James Howell is being investigated as a suspect in an alleged sexual assault that happened on May 31. The incident was reported to authorities by the girl’s mother on June 2. Although he was sentenced to a year in state prison, Howell’s sentence was suspended because he agreed to forfeit all weapons at his disposal.
James Wesley Howell was arrested about 5 a.m. local time Sunday in Santa Monica. During a trip to a gun range, she said, Howell told her: I wish I could kill a lot of people.. The boy said Howell had threatened him and his coworkers in past. “So there was a very short window of time between the time he became aware he was under investigation here and when he ended up in California”, Mull said.
Rumbley says, regardless of Howell’s intentions, he’ll have to face the consequences.
A search turned up three assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, ammunition and a 5-gallon bucket with chemicals that could be used to create an explosive device, officials said.
Howell has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Prosecutors are asking that he be held on $2 million bail.
Initially, Santa Monica Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said on Twitter that Howell told one of her officers after he was arrested that he wanted “to harm” the gay pride event.
Howell told police he was headed to a gay pride event in West Hollywood that attracts hundreds of thousands of people. It’s unclear whether he intended any violence at the LA Pride event, but his arrest put police and event organizers on heightened alert.
Grace Logsdon, Howell’s former roommate, said Howell owned five guns and had a bad temper.
Police in Charlestown, Ind. say the first incident involved James Wesley Howell’s boyfriend last October and the second involved a neighbor four days later. He also noted that Howell apparently had violated a probation requirement from IN that he surrender all weapons.
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Howell was arrested less than a year ago for allegedly pointing a gun at his neighbors, according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited IN court records. Authorities in Kentucky have also revoked Howell’s bail in a pending felony case in which he is accused of evading police.
