Suspect in Clovis jewelry thefts being held in Texas jail

Clovis police have named Junayd Howard, 25, of Clovis as a suspect in three Clovis jewelry store burglaries and one attempted burglary at Diamonds Evermore in late August and early September, an affidavit of arrest warrant filed in Curry County Magistrate Court states.

According to the affidavit:

• Amarillo Police apprehended Howard as he attempted to burglarize a JCPenney in Amarillo on September 12.

• Amarillo police responded to an alarm call at the JCPenney store in the Westgate Mall at 11:29 p.m. Sept. 12, in which Howard was seen on video breaking glass cases with a hammer and removing jewelry.

• Howard tried to flee the scene through a broken glass window when a police dog gave chase, causing Howard to jump into a dumpster to avoid being bitten. While being chased, Howard dropped a backpack, and when police searched that backpack, they found over $100,000 worth of jewelry from JCPenney.

• Officers on scene interviewed Howard, where they learned he was an employee of the JCPenney in Clovis until Sept.. 8, citing low work hours as the reason for quitting.

• Officers also learned that Howard is a former U.S. Air Force Airman, who came to Clovis because he was stationed at Cannon Air Force Base. He separated from the Air Force due to a driving while intoxicated offense

• The Amarillo incident gave Clovis police reason to believe he was the perpetrator in the Clovis burglaries, and that led Clovis police to file for a search warrant of his Clovis home, where they recovered a large amount of gold and sterling jewelry, watches, earrings, and rings. The next day, officers with Clovis police called the Clovis jewelry stores and confirmed officers had found several items missing from their inventory at Howard's residence.

• Howard told police he bounced between Lubbock, Amarillo, Clovis, and Albuquerque because he enjoys life on the road. He also told police he committed the robberies because he was going through "rough times."

• Howard is charged with 17 criminal counts, including commercial burglary, a fourth-degree felony, and theft over $20,000, a 2nd-degree felony.

Howard is currently being held in the Potter County Detention Center. A Potter County District Attorney's office representative said Monday that Howard has not been indicted yet in the Texas offense.

Attempts on Monday to reach Amarillo police to verify information in the Clovis affidavit were not successful.