| “ | All the times I've been pulled over by cops. Frisked by cops. Shoved down on the sidewalk face first by cops. Lied to by cops. Knocked around by cops. Ripped off by cops. All those times too many times to count, gives me great pleasure to give one up. | „ |
| ~ Bug voicing his history of suffering police brutality. |
Clayton Howard, also known as Bug, is the secondary antagonist of the Chicago P.D. episode "Hit Me".
He was portrayed by Stephen Conrad Moore.
Biography[]
Past[]
Howard has long sheet of crimes, ranging from robbery, assault, and other serious crimes. He has been described as unhinged by others, leading him to being put in prison for his offenses. As mentioned by himself, he has a strong hatred of police officers because of his history of being pulled over and abused by corrupt cops who sometimes even robbed him. At some point, Det. Martin Watts (who previously arrested him before) realized crime had better pay and approached him for his talent of robbery. Watts had told Howard to pretend to be a cop and rob people, while splitting the profit even. Howard accepted the terms and decided to rob casino winners, who had the best chance of bringing in loot. He brought in his friends Franklin Haynes and Gerard Garner, to help him in his plan by serving as a lookout and fellow impersonator respectively, supplying them with necessary items needed. He also recruited fellow acquaintance Elizabeth McKenney.
"Hit Me"[]
He pulled over Kristie Bradford, a recent casino winner and told her that she had a minor infraction. At first, he was kind to her and even helped her out the car but when he asked to check her purse and was refused, he got violent and viciously assaulted her by repeatedly hitting her in the face with his gun and stole the money. He also took her ID and threatened the bloodied Kristie Bradford if she reported him, he'd find her before he left her on the road.
Bradford got herself treated at the hospital and reported her experience to the cops, who set up a sting and ended up arresting Garner. After Bradford confirmed he wasn't the assailant, Garner was offered a deal to give up his conspirators. He agreed after seeing Bradford's injuries and informed Intelligence it was Bug who recruited him in this scheme and likely attacked Bradford because it was something he'd do, which was confirmed when Bradford positively identified Bug as the one who attacked her. Due to Watts helping Intelligence, he caught wind of the news and killed Haynes for being a loose end.
He was tracked to his house, where he was going out before spotting Officers Kim Burgess and Sean Roman who thought he was one of them, but Howard believed they were onto him. Upon entering his car, he opened fire on them and fled while being pursued. After a lengthy chase, he crashed his car and was left wounded but escaped while the cops were dazed from their experience. A BOLO is put on him for attempted murder of cops.
Realizing the heat was on, he fled to McKenney while Intelligence discovered Haynes' corpse and knew Bug was responsible. Eventually, Intelligence discover McKenney who masqueraded as a cop after stealing a real cop's badge, as well as McKenney and Bug stealing cars from the lot, and both were identified by the owner. Once her address was found, Roman and Burgess were sent to her. She initially tried to send them away but Roman had caught sight of Bug walking past. Bug recognized them as the cops he shot at and quickly fled but is pursued by Roman while Burgess subdued McKenney. Bug hid in an abandoned building, as Roman called this information in and went to personally confront him. Once inside, Roman and Bug got into a brawl that ended with Roman as the victor and cuffing Bug, before Sgt. Trudy Platt and other cops came in to haul Bug off.
Bug was taken to the precinct and placed in the cage where he was visited by Sgt. Hank Voight who confronted him on his crimes. Bug callously brushes off his crimes, while telling Voight that it seemed like he knew everything. However, Voight wanted to know how he got the materials for his masquerade. Bug told him that was the best part and Voight brought up his respect of the badge because his father and some of his friends were cops. Smugly, Bug revealed his history of being abused by cops and that it was actually satisfying for him to give one up. When Voight asked who, Bug replied that he wanted a deal before he said anything, and Voight was agreed after he spills it. Bug revealed it was Detective Martin Watts, who is the same cop helping Intelligence. After seeing Voight express some surprise, he remarked that the look made it even better for him. He then implicated Watts as the mastermind.
Bug is ultimately incarcerated for his crimes of murder, assault, robbery, and conspiracy.
