DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 1997             TAG: 9710210241

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   49 lines

FUNERAL HOME DIRECTOR FACES CHARGE OF ASSAULTING AN OFFICER DURING SEARCH

Prominent funeral director Carlos A. Howard was arrested Monday at his funeral home in Park Place and charged with assaulting a state trooper who was helping execute a search warrant, state police said.

Apparently, state troopers and special agents were assisting the state Department of Health Professions Enforcement Division in executing the warrant at the business, in the 400 block of W. 35th St., said Tammy Van Dame, State Police spokeswoman.

The scuffle ensued after the trooper repeatedly asked Howard to move from behind his office desk so that agents could search there, she said. Howard, who was talking on the telephone, repeatedly refused to move and would not hang up the phone, Van Dame said.

``Mr. Howard then verbally spoke to the trooper in a threatening manner that indicated he should not proceed further,'' Van Dame said. Trooper J.A. Durr was trying to physically move Howard when he was assaulted. Van Dame could not elaborate further on the incident. During the scuffle, Durr's shirt was torn but he was not injured, Van Dame said. Howard was taken to the Norfolk City Jail and was released Monday night on a $2,500 surety bond.

Howard could not be reached for comment Monday night.

Van Dame did not know what the agents were looking for or what, if anything, was taken from the business. A spokeswoman from the Department of Health Professions said she would not comment on the incident until today.

It was unclear if the business would be open today. Van Dame said the body of one woman, whose funeral is scheduled for Thursday, was left at the funeral home overnight. Officials contacted her family, Van Dame said.

In March, The Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers voted to revoke Howard's funeral service license. His business, however, has remained open.

Howard was accused of hiring employees who weren't licensed to assist with embalming and funeral services. He denied the charges and was appealing the action.

Howard has been able to keep his business open because his personal license is separate from the licenses the state requires for funeral homes, said Kenneth Alexander, owner of Metropolitan Funeral Home and former president of the Virginia Mortician's Association. If another licensed manager is found to run the business, it can remain open, he said.

Howard is founder and president of the 35th Street Merchants Association. He has been an outspoken critic of the city's job-growth and business recruiting policies, maintaining Norfolk doesn't do enough for small businesses. KEYWORDS: ASSAULT ARREST

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