{"id":179266,"date":"2026-03-05T13:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T13:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179266\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T13:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T13:57:07","slug":"gang-investigation-leads-to-arrest-of-eight-time-convicted-felon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179266\/","title":{"rendered":"Gang Investigation Leads to Arrest of Eight-Time Convicted Felon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot-2026-03-02-at-2-53-50-pm.png\" alt=\"Gang Investigation Leads to Arrest of Eight-Time Convicted Felon\" class=\"pr-3 pb-3\" aria-label=\"Gang Investigation Leads to Arrest of Eight-Time Convicted Felon\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office Gang Unit has arrested an eight-time convicted felon following an ongoing investigation into the Young Godz gang operating in the Grant Park area.<\/p>\n<p>Detectives identified Lavardis Howard, 29, as the primary suspect during the investigation.\u00a0Howard was released from Florida State Prison in\u00a0October 2025.<\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0February 19, 2026, Howard was involved in a domestic incident, where detectives obtained an arrest warrant.<\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0February 24, 2026, Gang Unit detectives served a search warrant at Howard\u2019s residence in Tampa. During the search, detectives located two pistols, one of which was reported stolen out of Tampa, approximately two pounds of marijuana, multiple boxes of ammunition, mushrooms, and marijuana wax.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A second arrest warrant was obtained and Howard was located and arrested on\u00a0February 27, 2026, in Progress Village.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Howard faces the following charges:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tAggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon&#13;<br \/>\n\tFelon in Possession of a Firearm&#13;<br \/>\n\tFelon in Possession of Ammunition (x3)\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tPossession of Drug Paraphernalia (x2)&#13;<br \/>\n\tPossession of Cannabis with Intent to Sell, Manufacture or Deliver&#13;<br \/>\n\tPossession of Cannabis (More than 20 Grams)&#13;<br \/>\n\tPossession of Cannabis Sativa Resin&#13;<br \/>\n\tPossession of Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell or Deliver (Schedule I)(x2)&#13;<br \/>\n\tPossession of Cocaine&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis arrest is the result of proactive investigative work targeting gang activity in our community,\u201d\u00a0said Sheriff Chad Chronister.\u00a0\u201cWe will continue to pursue those who illegally possess firearms and distribute drugs in our neighborhoods. Our message is clear: if you are engaging in gang-related crime, we will find you and hold you accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is an ongoing investigation. Any further updates will come from the Public Affairs Office.<\/p>\n<p>                                Additional Images<\/p>\n<p>                                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/screenshot-2026-03-02-at-3-36-05-pm.png\" alt=\"Gang Investigation Leads to Arrest of Eight-Time Convicted Felon Supporting Image\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office Gang Unit has arrested an eight-time convicted felon following an ongoing investigation into&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-179266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}