DETROIT – Detroit police followed footprints in the snow to find a fleeing wrong-way driver and the doghouse where he hid a gun and drugs, they said.
Alonta Jerome Howell, 28, is named in a criminal complaint that was unsealed in January.
Officers said they saw Howell driving a gray Nissan Murano at 8:08 p.m. Jan. 15, 2024, in the area of Emery Street and Russell Avenue. He was going the wrong way on Russell Avenue and talking on a cellphone, according to police.
When they got behind Howell to pull him over, police said he turned east on Emery Street and sped away. Howell turned north on Hanna Street and east on Remington Avenue before crashing into a fire hydrant at the corner of Remington Avenue and Hull Street, officials said.
Howell was no longer in the car, so cops began to search the area. Someone told them that a man had run behind a white car in a driveway in the 20100 block of Hull Street.
As officers searched, they found fresh footprints in the snow in an alleyway, they said. Police tracked the footprints north to a doghouse in the 20100 block of Greeley Street, and then to a front porch a few houses down.
Howell was sitting on the porch and told police that he had walked outside to smoke a cigarette. Officers said his Timberland boots matched the pattern on the footprints, and they were covered in snow. He matched the description of the wrong-way driver, and his blue winter hat was underneath the bench, police said.
An officer talked to Howell and tried to buy time for others to get to the house, but an SUV pulled up and Howell got inside. Police said they told Howell to get out, and he was arrested without further incident.
A key to the Nissan was found in his possession, officials said.
When police checked the doghouse, they found a Ziploc bag holding 928.6 grams of crystal meth and a Glock 20 Gen 4 10 mm handgun, they said.
The gun was loaded with 15 rounds, including one in the chamber, according to police. They said it was equipped with “Glock Switch,” a machine gun conversion device.
No guns are registered to Howell in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record database.
In the past, Howell pleaded no contest and guilty to various felony charges and spent 28 months in prison. At the time of his release, he signed a form that said he isn’t allowed to possess a gun, records show.
The criminal complaint concludes there’s probable cause that Howell illegally possessed a gun, illegally possessed a machine gun, and possessed a controlled substance with the intent to distribute that substance.