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An American Airlines passenger is suing the company following a 17-day stint in jail after the airline wrongly identified him as a shoplifter who stole from a store in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
The lawsuit, filed in the judicial court of Tarrant County, Texas, claimed Michael Lowe was wrongfully detained in a New Mexico jail for over two weeks in “grossly unsanitary conditions” a year after the incident occurred. Lowe also claimed he was not told what the charges were until after he contacted a detective at the Dallas airport.
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“I’ve never heard of this fact pattern in my life or my career,” Scott Palmer, Lowe’s attorney, told the Fort-Worth Star Telegram. “If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.”
The reported incident occurred in May 2020, when Lowe was on a layover in Dallas, awaiting his next flight to Reno, Nevada. Images in the lawsuit, obtained through security footage, showed discrepancies in the appearances of the two men. At the time, Lowe’s hair was two inches long, and he wore a mask, whereas the real shoplifter had a military-style buzzcut and did not wear a mask. Lowe argued that the differences in appearance should have dismissed him as a suspect.
The airport police department ordered American Airlines to send over the security footage and a list of passengers on the flight. However, the airline only sent the footage and Lowe’s name. As a result, the police issued two arrest warrants, one for felony burglary of a building and the second for criminal mischief. Lowe was arrested 14 months later at a Fourth of July bash in New Mexico.
“Finding composure in his knowledge this was a mistake,” the lawsuit said. “Mr. Lowe told his friends — who were only visiting New Mexico, and were not locals — not to worry, it would all get cleared up quickly. He was wrong.”
Lowe said he spent 17 days in the Quay County Jail, where he was in a constant state of fear of violence from other inmates. He also witnessed a young man get punched in the face three times and a different inmate who was clearly sick, according to the lawsuit.
After Lowe’s release, it took him two days to get back to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he was from. Lowe said he attempted to find out what the charges against him were but was only successful after calling the airport police department. The detective told him there was another warrant out for his arrest after he failed to show up to a court hearing.
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The charges were dropped a few weeks later after Lowe retained Palmer, who asked the police to compare the photos of Lowe to the person who shoplifted.
Lowe is suing the company for civil damages, claiming negligence on the part of American Airlines. The lawsuit did not cite a specific amount of damages but requested a trial by jury. The lawsuit claimed Lowe has received a loss of income from his job as a travel guide at the Grand Canyon due to his emotional and traumatic experience at the New Mexico jail.
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