American Airlines aircraft (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images) A man mistakenly identified as the suspect who stole from a store in a Dallas airport spent 17 days in a New Mexico jail without knowing why — and his lawyer says it’s because American Airlines sent the wrong photo to police.According to a lawsuit filed against American Airlines, in May 2020, DFW Airport police were investigating a burglary and found video showing the suspect board a flight to Reno, Nevada.
When investigators served a search warrant to American Airlines requesting "any and all" travel information for passengers on that particular flight, the airline reportedly sent information for only one man: Michael Lowe, a professional outdoorsman and career guide from Flagstaff, Arizona.Lowe was not the culprit, but the information the airline sent to police was enough for them to issue an arrest warrant on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor criminal mischief, court documents state.More than a year later, Lowe was picked up on those warrants while attending a July 4th celebration with friends in Tucumcari, New Mexico.
He spent the next 17 days in a crowded jail cell, alternating between sleeping on a concrete floor and a metal bunk. His lawyer said no one told him why he was behind bars, even when he saw a judge eight days after his arrest.Michael Lowe on a May 2020 flight to Reno, Nevada. (photo from court documents) "In twenty-five years of practicing, I’ve never seen anything this egregious," Scott Palmer, one of his attorneys, told FOX Television Stations. "It’s hard to imagine anything more terrifying than being jailed for seventeen days without a clue as to why, or for how long you would be in there."According to the lawsuit,.