A man accused of stealing a funeral home van with a dead body inside has been arrested two months later.
Deon Howard, 23, was taken into custody on Sunday after being identified as the wanted suspect during an argument with a police officer conducting a traffic stop. He was found in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which is about 200 miles north of Chicago where the crime took place.
Howard on January 21 allegedly stole a van from Collins & Stone Funeral Home in Rockford, that had the body of Curtis Brown, 47.
The abandoned van was discovered by police the next day. The day after that, cops found Brown’s body naked in an alleyway in South Chicago, roughly 100 miles away from the funeral home.
‘In 25 years, this is the first time we’ve ever heard of anything like this,’ said Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd. ‘I hope we never have to see anything like this again.’
Howard has been charged with abuse or a corpse and unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle. He is also facing obstruction and weapons-related charges in Wisconsin. It was not immediately clear when he will be extradited to Illinois.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and police have noted that Howard allegedly jumped into the van and drove away after it was left unlocked and with the engine on.
Before the incident, the funeral home’s director, Brandy Collins was fined $10,000 fine for ‘unprofessional conduct, failure to account for personal property, and aiding and assisting unlicensed practice’.
Brown’s family accused the funeral home of negligence and called for it to be closed. Collins is on probation until May of this year.
Collins stated: ‘We strive to lessen the burden of bereaved families as they face a very difficult time and we work diligently to comply with standards of regulations that apply to the funeral home profession.
‘Our goal is to always provide quality services that our community has come to expect from us.’
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