Man Sentenced to 2½ Years for Norfolk Home Depot Thefts, Robbery
NORFOLK, Va. – Caezar E. Gonzalez-Howard, 22, was sentenced on Friday to two and a half years in prison after Mr. Howard twice stole from the Home Depot and threatened to shoot the store’s loss prevention officer.
On Aug. 26, 2022, Mr. Gonzalez-Howard walked through the Home Depot on North Military Highway, took a rolling tote that he did not pay for, placed numerous tools that he did not pay for into the tote, and left through the garden section exit past all points of sale. The store's loss prevention officer captured the theft on surveillance video, which clearly depicted Mr. Gonzalez-Howard as the suspect.
On Sept. 10, 2022, Mr. Gonzalez-Howard committed another theft in the same manner at the same Home Depot. This time, the same loss prevention officer recognized Mr. Gonzalez-Howard and confronted him in the parking lot. Mr. Gonzalez-Howard then brandished a firearm at the officer and threatened to “smoke” him. Other patrons intervened, and Mr. Gonzalez-Howard eventually dropped the items he stole in the parking lot, ran to his vehicle, and fled the scene.
On Nov. 6, 2023, Mr. Gonzalez-Howard pleaded guilty to grand larceny and armed robbery, and Judge Joseph C. Lindsey took his plea agreement under advisement pending his sentencing hearing.
On Friday, Judge Lindsey found Mr. Gonzalez-Howard guilty of his charges and sentenced him to two years and six months in prison, with another seven years and six months suspended on the conditions that Mr. Gonzalez-Howard be banned from Home Depot stores in the Commonwealth for three years following his release and complete three years of uniform good behavior and supervised probation.
“Taking property from a store is stealing; pulling a gun on an innocent employee who is doing his job is robbery,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “What Mr. Gonzalez-Howard did was extremely dangerous, and he must serve his sentence accordingly.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney J. Drew Fairbanks prosecuted Mr. Gonzalez-Howard’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Detective Nathan R. Banks led the investigation.
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