Miami and Miami-Dade police departments credited with assisting Sarasota Police Department
Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on July 4, the Sarasota Police Department announced the arrest of the suspect in a fatal shooting in the very early hours of that day.
Kevin M. Holloway, 54, was taken into custody in Miami, the Police Department indicated, as agency members were expressing their appreciation to both the Miami and Miami-Dade County police departments “for their critical assistance.”
The evening news release on July 4 added, “Their support was instrumental in swiftly apprehending the wanted suspect.”
Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche said in the release, “This case highlights our commitment to community safety and the importance of inter-agency cooperation. Thank you to all the officers and detectives involved for your hard work and dedication.”
Troche added, “We continue to uphold the law and protect our community.”
The Sarasota News Leader confirmed that Holloway was booked into the Miami-Dade County Jail at 7:55 p.m. on July 4. He was arrested on an out-of-county warrant, the jail record said. As of late morning on July 11, the News Leaderfound no record for Holloway in the Sarasota County Detention Center. Additionally, no Probable Cause Affidavit showed up for him in the records maintained by the Office of the Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller.
As the News Leader reported, the Sarasota Police Department had issued an urgent advisory just before 11:30 a.m. on July 4, identifying Holloway as the person being sought in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred shortly after 1 a.m. that day, “near the intersection of Dixie Avenue and 24th Street,” in the Newtown community of Sarasota.
In that advisory, Cynthia McLaughlin, the public information officer for the Sarasota Police Department, warned, “If you see [Holloway], DO NOT approach. Call 911 right away.”
During the News Leader check of the records maintained by the Office of the Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller, it found two prior cases involving Holloway — the first, in January 2006; the second, in April 2009.
The Probable Cause Affidavits in the January 2006 case identified Holloway as living in Palmetto at the time. He was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell it within 1,000 feet of public housing; possession of drug paraphernalia; driving without a license; and driving an unregistered vehicle.
The affidavits explained that the charges were a result of Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducting a traffic stop on a vehicle at approximately 1:25 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2006. Holloway, who was identified as the driver, acknowledged that his license had been suspended several years earlier, that affidavit added.
One deputy also learned from a computer check that the vehicle Holloway was driving was not registered.
The drugs and paraphernalia were found during a search of the Mercury Grand Marquis, the affidavit continued.
Thirty-seven pieces of rock cocaine were found in a container inside the vehicle’s fuel tank door, the affidavit noted. When the deputy retrieved the container from the fuel tank, the affidavit added, Holloway “spontaneously uttered the following statement, ‘S**t, somebody must have told them.’ ”
In that case, court records show, Holloway pleaded “Guilty” to all four counts, with the cocaine charge having been modified to possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, which was a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to two years and 29 days in jail.
The records for the 2009 case show Holloway with a Horton Circle address in Sarasota. He was charged with possession of rock cocaine within 1,000 feet of a daycare center, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Alteration of a Firearm Serial Number, Dealing in Stolen Property, and Driving While License Suspended with knowledge of that fact.
One of the Probable Cause Affidavits in that case said that Holloway had been charged with “a total of 20 Felony arrests with a total of 9 felony convictions.”
The firearm involved in that incident was a .32-caliber “Keltec that was loaded and had the serial number scratched off of it,” an affidavit said. A separate affidavit noted that the firearm had been “stolen out of the Venice Police Department.” However, that affidavit also indicated that Holloway was not the individual who had committed the theft. Nonetheless, the affidavit said he knew the Keltec was stolen when he took possession of it.
Holloway was tried and found guilty on a third-degree felony charge of possessing a controlled substance, as well as a second-degree felony count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. He received a sentence of five years for the third-degree felony conviction and 15 years on the firearm charge, court records noted, with a provision that he serve a minimum of three years in jail on the latter count.
The drug and firearm sentences were to be served concurrently, the order of judgment showed.