A Knoxville man is behind bars after leading officers on a chase through three counties.
According to Knoxville Police, officers spotted a suspicious man at the Weigels on Callahan and Central Avenue Pike. He was wearing surgical gloves and had been in the store for a long time and "acting suspiciously." He left without buying anything.
The man then went to the Delta Express convenience store near Merchants Drive. Employees suspected he was the same man that robbed the store three days earlier, and alerted the officers.
When the man, later identified as Jeremy Shane Howard, 33, noticed the officers watching him and fled the store in a Ford Mustang.
Officers attempted to pull Howard over, but he refused to stop. They pursued the car from Knox County into Anderson County then into Union County, where Union County officers finally stopped the car and took Howard and a female passenger into custody.
They were brought to the Safety Building in downtown Knoxville where they were questioned. The woman was released without charges. but Howard was charged driving on a revoked license, evading arrest, reckless endangerment, and reckless driving. He was also served with an outstanding child support warrant.
The investigation into the robbery at the Delta Express is still continuing.
KPD said Howard has a long criminal history, that includes multiple charges of driving on a revoked license, multiple theft charges, multiple domestic assault charges, multiple failure to appear charges, criminal impersonation, violation of probation, DUI, and simple possession charges.
The officers who spotted Howard were on special assignment investigating a number of armed robberies in the North Knoxville area.
