Monday (8/31) morning, Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase was conducting surveillance on a residence on the south east side of Ava when he observed a vehicle that is a suspect in several burglaries in the area. Sheriff Degase recognized the driver as Travis Howard who is large scale methamphetamine distributor, a suspect in numerous burglaries and has been in two prior pursuits with law enforcement in Douglas County and Ozark County. Howard is also a suspect in a stolen side by side that the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office recovered in Ozark County.
Sheriff Degase followed the vehicle and let it get past the school as kids were just starting to be dropped off for school. The vehicle pulled into North Casey’s where Sheriff Degase and Deputies Michael Schupbach and James Nelson attempted to pin the vehicle in to avoid a pursuit in the school area. The vehicle accelerated rapidly in the parking lot onto Bacorn Street where Deputies were able to pull in front and block the vehicle. The vehicle began to backup to go around the deputies when Sheriff Degase chose to end the pursuit to avoid placing the motoring public and the children around the school in harm, by ramming the back of the suspect vehicle pinning it between the patrol vehicles.
At that time Travis Howard age 39 of Gainesville and David Fisher age 32 of Ava were taken into custody. Several grams of methamphetamine were seized from the vehicle.
Howard was charged with Delivery of a controlled Substance methamphetamine and resisting arrest by fleeing and his bond has been set at $25,000 cash only and if he were to bond, he would be on house arrest with GPS monitoring, be supervised by CPS and take random drug and alcohol testing. Howard was just released from the Department of Corrections in June of 2020 and has 16 PRIOR Felony arrest to include multiple drug violations, burglary, tampering with motor vehicle, assault on Law Enforcement, and illegal possession of firearms. Howard was currently on Probation.
David Fisher was charged with possession of a controlled Substance and his bond has been set at $5000 cash only and if he were to bond, he would be on house arrest with GPS monitoring, be supervised by CPS and take random drug and alcohol testing.
Both Sheriff Degase and Travis Howard sustained minor cuts from broken glass as Howard had to be forcibly removed out the driver’s window of the vehicle by Sheriff Degase.
Subsequently, as a result of this a search warrant was obtained for Fishers Residence located on S. Mansfield street where additional methamphetamine was seized and marijuana plants that were being illegally grown. 4 Children were removed from the residence and a female Karen Greenwood age 34 of Ava was taken into custody with formal charges pending.
Degase would like to thank Ava Police Lt. David Overcast and MSHP Charlie Hogue for their assistance.
Sheriff Degase stated in a social media post that he, “was very thankful that the pursuit could be ended quickly to avoid a pursuit in and around the school. A previous pursuit with Howard by Cpl. Wallace was terminated on South 5 highway for safety reasons after Howard almost struck a vehicle head on.”
He continued, “I would like to commend the long hours and work of his deputies on this case. This has been an ongoing investigation from the burglary that occurred on DD Highway in western Douglas County that has resulted in several thousands dollars in stolen property being recovered.”
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