James D. Howard, who allegedly assaulted a Bird Arena employee last week, was indicted for burglary, aggravated burglary and two other counts.
Former Ohio University student James D. Howard, 25, was indicted by the Athens County Grand Jury on March 28, according to a news release from Athens County Prosecuting Attorney Keller J. Blackburn.
Howard was indicted for burglary, aggravated burglary, tampering with records and having weapons while under disability.
Burglary is a third degree felony, aggravated burglary is a first degree felony, tampering with records is a third degree felony and having weapons while under disability is a third degree felony.
Howard will be arraigned on April 6.
The maximum sentence for aggravated burglary is eleven years, for burglary is 60 months and for both tampering with records and having weapons under disability is 36 months.
On March 21, Howard allegedly assaulted a staff member at Bird Arena.
After the alleged assault, OUPD obtained warrants for Howard’s arrest and asked area law enforcement agencies to help look for him, according to a previous Post report. Howard later withdrew from classes at OU that day.
Howard then went to a gun store in Logan and tried to purchase a firearm and ammunition. John Downs, the owner of the store, denied Howard the sale after he filled out his Federal Firearms License because the store owner felt "something wasn't right about the person," according to a previous Post report.
Prosecutor Blackburn has reported that the firearm was purchased by Howard "after he allegedly made a false statement on his background check form," according to the release.
Howard was also allegedly drug dependent or in danger of becoming drug dependent when he was found with the firearm, according to the release.
Howard left the store but returned later that day. When Downs saw him approaching, he closed the store and would not allow Howard inside, Hocking County Sheriff Lanny North said.
Downs then contacted the Hocking County Sheriff's Office.
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Sheriff's office personnel found Howard's car in the parking lot at the Wal-Mart in Logan with the assistance of the Logan Police Department. Law enforcement officers found a rifle inside his car and later found Howard inside the Wal-Mart, as he was able to buy a rifle from a store in Athens.
Howard was taken into custody and transported to the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail.
He appeared in Athens Municipal Court for an arraignment March 22, and the judge in the case ordered no contact with OU, the gun store and the Wal-Mart, according to a previous Post report. A no contact order means the defendant isn’t allowed to have any contact with the victim or the people under the protection of the order, according to the law websiteHG.org.
North said in a previous Post report that Howard's motive may have been to commit a shooting on campus, but Ohio University Police Department Chief Andrew Powers cautioned that it's hard to tell what Howard's intentions were.
In a campus-wide email on Friday, Powers said law enforcement does not know Howard’s motives.
“We have gathered no information so far to indicate Howard made any specific threats toward individuals or our campus in general,” Powers said in the email.
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