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BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Larry Vauchon Howard, 30, was arrested Friday on charges of stealing and using credit cards from vehicles and on a warrant for domestic battery; more charges for stolen credit cards were added yesterday.
Two victims reported on Friday that their vehicles were burglarized overnight and their credit/debit cards stolen. One credit card was used to purchase gas and was then used in an attempted purchase of over $300 at Walmart. That transaction was declined, but a card belong to the second victim was successfully used to make the purchase.
A Gainesville Police Department officer originally identified Howard as the suspect in that case after seeing Howard’s car in the surveillance video from the gas station. The merchandise purchased with the card was recovered from Howard’s residence.
Post Miranda, Howard reportedly denied breaking into vehicles but said he had purchased the credit cards from someone on the street in Majestic Oaks.
At the time of Howard’s arrest, his girlfriend reportedly showed officers other credit cards, several ID cards, a birth certificate, and some work papers that Howard had allegedly hidden in a vent when officers arrived to question him.
Further investigation revealed that at least four burglaries were committed early Friday morning, when Howard reportedly went out at 3:00 a.m. and returned around 5:00 a.m. He then allegedly went to four different retail establishments, starting around 6:10 a.m., to try to make purchases with the cards.
Howard has been charged with domestic battery and petit theft from a sworn complaint in December of 2021, plus five counts of fraudulent use of credit cards and two counts of theft. He has out-of-state convictions from 2013 to 2021 and an active warrant out of Georgia. He is being held on $194,000 bail.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
