Wanted homicide suspect from South Carolina is arrested at a Palm Coast Hotel

A South Carolina man wanted for his role in a traffic accident that killed two people is caught at a Palm Coast hotel.

46-year-old Randall Thomas Howard — a resident of Gaston, SC — was apprehended around 5:00 p.m. Monday (August 29, 2022) by members of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) Fugitive, Intelligence and K-9 units working in partnership with the United States Marshals Service.

Howard was located at a hotel on Kingswood Drive in Palm Coast, where he had been staying while working locally for a high-speed internet company.

“Another fugitive found out that he came to the wrong county,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “Two people died as a result of his reckless actions and he’s been on the run ever since. He’ll now have a free stay at the Green Roof Inn while awaiting extradition to South Carolina. Kudos to my deputies for working alongside our federal partners to apprehend this fugitive.”

Howard is held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility without bond on two felony counts of Driving Under The Influence Resulting In Death, both stemming from a May 13, 2021 incident on Interstate 26 in Calhoun County, SC. Howard had meth and amphetamines in his system when he got behind the wheel, drove onto the interstate, ran off the road and smashed into a large box truck parked in the emergency lane.

Howard also faces two additional felony charges from FCSO. Deputies found 4.7 grams of crystal meth in a shirt pocket while searching him on scene. While Howard was being processed at the Green Roof Inn, a small clear baggie with 0.8 grams of a green leafy substance was discovered inside his pants, so he’s been charged with Introduction Of Contraband Into A Correctional Facility as well as Possession Of Methamphetamine.

Howard has no prior criminal record in Flagler County.