IL Man Who Stole Funeral Home Van With Corpse Inside Arrested In Wisconsin: Cops

ROCKFORD, IL — A 23-year-old Rockford man who had been wanted by police after authorities said he stole a funeral home van with a body inside in January has been arrested in Green Bay, Wis., Rockford police said on Monday.

Deon Howard was arrested by police in Green Bay on Sunday and faces criminal charges in Wisconsin of possession of a firearm by a felon and resisting or obstructing a police officer. The Winnebago County Prosecutor had previously charged Howard with possession of a stolen vehicle and abuse of a corpse, police said.

Brown County (Wis.) Sheriff’s Office police officials told Patch on Monday that Howard was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over after it was following a patrol vehicle with its high-beam lights on. A Brown County deputy stopped the vehicle, detected the odor of marijuana and proceeded to attempt to identify the occupants and search the vehicle, Brown County Capt. John Rousseau said.

Police said Howard was not cooperative with identifying himself and became argumentative with officers and was arrested for obstructing an officer. Upon search of the vehicle, officers located a gun stolen out of Outagamie County, Wis., Rousseau said.

Howard was taken to jail, where he was identified after being fingerprinted, police said. He was booked into the Brown County Jail for possession of a firearm contrary to injunction, receiving a stolen firearm, obstructing, and carrying a concealed weapon.

Rousseau said that Howard remains in custody and Brown County and faces a couple of extraditable warrants, including from Rockford. Howard will remain in custody while that process is worked out, Rousseau told Patch.

Howard was charged in Illinois after police said he stole a van from the Collins & Stone Funeral Home in Rockford in January. Police said at the time that the van was running and that the keys were in the vehicle when it was stolen.

Police announced that the van contained the body of Rockford resident Curtis Brown, who died of natural causes in January, according to the county coroner’s office.

Police found the van a day after it was stolen in the 1400 block of East 87th Street in Chicago, but said Brown’s body was not inside. A day later, the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office said that Brown’s body was found outside a residence in the 8200 block of South Manistee Avenue in Chicago.

Brown’s body was returned to the coroner’s office and a fundraising effort was started to help Brown’s family, all of whom live out-of-state, police said.