American Airlines framed an American: a man was sent to prison for the crime of another person

A man's life changed after he spent 6 days in a New Mexico jail because American Airlines wrongfully accused him and police identified him as a shoplifter at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, according to a June 17 lawsuit. StarTelegram.

Photo: Shutterstock

Michael Lowe boarded a flight at DFW Airport in May 2020. More than a year later, he said, he was on vacation in New Mexico when he was arrested on warrants he had never heard of, for a crime he did not commit. Lowe was held in Quay County Jail at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for more than two weeks in "extremely unsanitary conditions," according to the lawsuit. Lowe said he didn't even know what he was accused of until his release.

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“I’ve never heard of this happening in my life or in my career,” Lowe’s attorney Scott Palmer said. “If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.” American Airlines is named as the only defendant in the lawsuit. In response to requests for comment, an airline spokesman said on June 7 that the company was reviewing the lawsuit.

Allegations that were not made

Lowe's life-changing events began in May 2020, when a stranger stole from a store at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, the lawsuit says. Surveillance cameras caught the suspect boarding a flight bound for Reno. American Airlines reported the theft to DFW airport police, who ordered the Fort Worth-based airline to send footage and a passenger list showing everyone who boarded the flight. Instead, American Airlines "departed from its established procedures," according to the lawsuit, and sent police information about one passenger, Lowe. Lowe was on a connecting flight from Flagstaff to Reno. During the flight, Lowe had two-inch gray hair and wore a mask. CCTV footage, screenshots of which are presented in the lawsuit, shows a man with a short military-style haircut, no mask and several items.

The lawsuit states that despite the inconsistencies in their appearances, American Airlines identified Lowe as a shoplifter seen on CCTV footage. Based on this information, the police issued two warrants for Law's arrest, one for burglary and one for mischief. Fourteen months later, Low, unaware of any dealings with American Airlines or the police, was in Tucumcari, New Mexico, with his dogs, visiting friends. At a Fourth of July party, someone called the police about a riot unrelated to Lowe. When the police arrived there, they took information about everyone. When they got Lowe's name, they saw that he had two outstanding warrants from Tarrant County. They arrested him. The lawsuit says Lowe was "deeply confused" - he did not know where Tarrant County was or when he was last in Texas. No one told him what he was accused of in the warrants.

Lowe told his friends who were just visiting New Mexico and weren't locals not to worry, things would clear up quickly. He was wrong.

Painful days

Lowe was taken to Quay County Jail, where he continued to insist that the wrong person had been arrested. But, as the lawsuit says, "his protests not only went unheeded, but seem to have displeased the officers." According to him, Lowe was ordered to strip naked and forced to bend over and cough while he was searched for contraband.

The lawsuit alleges that he was placed in a general population quarantine cell, where he was kept with people accused of violent crimes. In addition to fear of physical abuse, Lowe was at risk of contracting COVID-19. "The facility's disdain for the health, safety and well-being of its residents was immediately apparent" because no one was wearing a mask, the lawsuit says.

At the time, New Mexico had the 10th highest rate of COVID-19 deaths in the nation. According to the lawsuit, Quay County Jail was one of three prisons in New Mexico where correctional officers refused to be tested for COVID-19. According to the lawsuit, over the next 17 days, Lowe repeatedly suffered physical and mental harm from prison conditions. He slept on the concrete floor but had little rest due to his "constant fear of confrontation, physical abuse, or sexual harassment". The lawsuit describes outbreaks of violence in the overcrowded block that "came from any trivial act."

According to him, Lowe saw the young man hit in the face three times, and the blood streak remained on the wall for several days.

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“Sitting in silence and not coming to the aid of a neighbor — especially a vulnerable person like a junior prisoner,” the lawsuit says, “was excruciating for Mr. Lowe.” Another man was seriously ill, and Lowe and the other men begged the officers to see a doctor, but their request was ignored, he said. Lowe still doubts if the man survived.

After Lowe spent eight days in jail, he was taken before a local judge. He still hasn't received any information as to why he was there. The judge told him that his only options were to refuse extradition, in which New Mexico would deliver him to Texas authorities, or to wait for Texas authorities to take him away. Lowe, not knowing what the legal implications of either option were, declined to extradite based on the court's suggestion to do so. He was sent back to prison. After appearing in court, Lowe's "suffering became especially acute, as his detention seemed to have no end," according to the lawsuit. He still did not know why he was arrested and when he would be released.

On his 17th day in jail, officers told Low that he was being released. According to him, he took the clothes in which he arrived and was sent out of prison without any information about why he was there at all. Low walked many miles to McDonald's, where he waited at the bus stop. According to him, he tried to wash himself in the restroom of McDonald's, but the staff kicked him out. The bus ride to Flagstaff took 12 hours, but the bus broke down midway. It took Lowe two full days before he reached his home in Flagstaff at 4:XNUMX am.

Charges dropped

Back in Flagstaff, Low began trying to figure out why he had been subjected to such an ordeal. He called various Tarrant County agencies and finally contacted a detective from the DFW Airport Police Department. He found out what the charges against him were, but he still doesn't know why he was misidentified.

The detective had more bad news for Low—he told Low that he was supposed to be in court that morning, and since he didn't show up, another arrest warrant would be issued according to the lawsuit. Low tried to convince the detective of his innocence, but the detective did not tell Low what the allegations were based on, and only said that American Airlines provided the information. The lawsuit says the call ended with the detective chiding Lowe for failing to show up for court. Lowe decided to find a lawyer. After weeks of searching for what he could afford, Lowe hired Palmer. Lawyers for Lowe asked DFW airport police to compare Lowe's photographs with surveillance footage of a man who robbed a DFW store at the airport. According to the lawsuit, after police compared the photos, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office dropped all charges against Lowe.

traumatic experience

Even though the charges against him were dropped, Lowe's life has changed, the lawsuit says. Lowe's arrest "due to the error of American Airlines" shook Lowe's "self-consciousness to the core and cast a shadow over his worldview."

Lowe works as a guide in the Grand Canyon and enjoys outdoor activities. Aspects of his work and life that he used to love - sleeping outside, walking light, feeling showered after a few days without him - now reminds him of "the grotesque filth in which he lived for seventeen days." He is constantly afraid that someone will blame him for something he did not do, and "now he suffers from a constant state of heightened alertness, which has deprived him of any ability to rest or relax."

Lowe's strip search, especially the more humiliating aspects of it, such as the exposure of his anus, watching a young prisoner being repeatedly punched in the face, blood on the floor and wall, and the pleas of the prisoner he was trying to care for, are all emotional. the shame, fear, anger and helplessness he felt, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that Lowe also suffered significant economic damage due to the wrongful arrest. He was unable to work while in prison, including arranging a two-week trip across Alaska to five people who each paid $6000 per person. The trip had to be canceled and Lowe had to pay the band back at his own expense. The arrest warrant remained in place even after his release, meaning he could not work until September 2021, the lawsuit says. In the lawsuit, Low accuses American Airlines of negligence for misidentifying him.

According to Law's lawyer, American could have provided the police with a list of passengers, as required by the police, but instead the airline decided to conduct "its own perfunctory investigation."

“I blame American Airlines,” Palmer said. “If they hadn't done what they did, the detective would never have issued the warrant.” It all started with the revelation of my name and only his.”

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