This weekend, I had planned on flying to Dallas on American Airlines. (Game called on account of heat.)
On my way in, I wasn't going t be doing any shopping.
But on my way back to Boston, planned for the next week, I would no doubt have stopped at a Hudson Booksellers for a bottle of water, something snacky, and a People Magazine. Maybe even a book.
I would have been a paying customer.
Nonetheless, there was apparently a non-zero chance that American Airline might have fingered me as a shoplifter and I could have ended up in the hoosegow. As happened to one traveler, who is now suing American.
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. For more than two weeks, Lowe was held in Quay County Jail at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in “grossly unsanitary conditions,” according to the lawsuit. Lowe said he didn’t even find out what he was charged with until after his release. (Source: Star Telegram)
What Lowe endured was quite a horror show.
What happened to him was set off when someone shoplifted something from a store inside DFW. The shop and what was lifted isn't specified, but I'm guessing it was something a bit more costly than what one might find at a Hudson's. Surely, no one could end up jailed for swiping a KIND Bar and a Michael Connelly paperback. (Not that I'm going to be swiping a KIND Bar and/or a Michael Connelly paperback.) The real light-fingered traveler must have been stealing a Tumi bag, a Mont Blanc pen, a Hugo Boss tie. Something pricey.
Whoever was stealing whatever, "surveillance cameras caught the suspect boarding a flight headed to Reno."
The Airport Police ordered American Airlines to turn over the passenger manifest, containing info on everyone on the DFW to Reno flight.
Instead, American Airlines “departed from its established procedures,” according to the lawsuit, and sent police a single passenger’s information — Lowe’s. Lowe had been on the flight as a layover on a trip from Flagstaff to Reno.
At the time of the flight, Lowe had two-inch long gray hair and wore a mask. The surveillance footage — screenshots of which are shown in the lawsuit — shows a man with a military-style buzz cut wearing no mask and carrying several items.
Oops.
Anyway, this false ID prompted arrest warrants - felony burglary and criminal mischief - made out for Lowe.
Over a year later, Lowe was at a party in Tucumcari, NM. The party was a Fourth of July celebration, and must have gotten a bit rowdy, as the police were called in. The ruckus had nothing to do with Lowe, but the cops took down everyone's name and ran them. Lowe's two warrants came up. And he was arrested.
Because he was innocent, Lowe figured things would be taken care of right away.
Nope.
He ended up strip searched and thrown into a holding area with those accused of violent crimes. Plus this was at the height of the pandemic, in a jail where "corrections officers had refused to be tested for COVID-19."
For the next 17 days, Lowe was traumatized repeatedly by the conditions at the jail, according to the suit. He slept on the concrete floor, but did not get much rest due to his “constant state of fear of confrontation, physical abuse or sexual victimization.” The suit describes the violent outbursts in the packed unit that “arose over any trivial act.”
After eight days, still without having been informed about why he was in jail, Lowe went before a judge, who smacked him back into jail to wait for Texas "authorities" to come and retrieve him.
On day 17, he was release, still not knowing why he'd been there in the first place. He made his way (another horror story) back to his home in Flagstaff, AZ.
The article I read didn't mention why Lowe hadn't gotten legal help during his time in jail. Nor did it mention why none of the friends he was partying with did anything to free him. But I guess that's neither here or there: Lowe went through hell. And continued to do so. While trying to figure out what he was charged with - and why him - he was told that, even though he'd been cleared, he was supposed to have shown up in court. Which he hadn't done, because a) he was innocent; b) he had no idea he was supposed to be in court. Anyway, there was yet another warrant out for his arrest.
At this point, Lowe finally decided he needed a lawyer. (Duh!) The lawyer got all charges dismissed.
But Lowe's now suffering from PTSD, and has lost income. A professional outdoorsman/tour guide, he lost a lucrative gig while he was in jail - and other work as he tried to clear himself.
Lowe is suing American Airlines for its negligence.
I hope he wins big.
And I sure hope it gets American Airlines at DFW to not make any more bogus identifications.
Note to self: Next time you fly, don't look suspicious at DFW. And remember to keep the receipt for the KIND Bar and People.
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