Jail lawsuit alleges 'unsanitary' conditions

TUCUMCARI — An Arizona man jailed for a crime he didn’t commit has alleged “grossly unsanitary conditions” and lack of precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Quay County jail.

Court records show Michael Lowe, 46, of Flagstaff, Ariz., filed a lawsuit against American Airlines in Tarrant County, Texas, through his Dallas-area lawyer, Scott Palmer.

According to a copy of the lawsuit provided by Palmer, Lowe was flying on American Airlines on May 12, 2020, from Flagstaff to Reno, Nev., with a stop in Dallas. During the layover, a burglary was reported in the airport, and surveillance footage showed the suspect boarding Lowe’s plane.

Airport police later obtained a search warrant that ordered the airline to produce data about the passengers on that flight. According to the lawsuit, American Airlines provided information on only one passenger — Lowe. Tarrant County issued felony and misdemeanor warrants for his arrest.

While vacationing in Tucumcari on July 4, 2021, Lowe was arrested on the warrant while city police were investigating another person during a disturbance. Lowe insisted they had arrested the wrong person and was confident the mistake would be rectified quickly.

Booked at the Quay County Detention Center, Lowe stated in his lawsuit he was ordered to strip naked and his body inspected for contraband.

“Placed in a quarantine pod, the facilities (sic) contempt for the health, safety and well-being of its inmates was immediately obvious, as not a single staff member nor inmate wore a face covering,” the lawsuit stated. The lawsuit stated Quay County had the fourth-highest death rate from COVID-19 in New Mexico at the time.

The suit stated every adult jail in New Mexico except Quay County’s had cut its inmate population numbers in response to the pandemic. It stated the jail was one of only three in the state where corrections officers and jail contractors had refused to be tested for the virus.

Lowe stated he was housed with gang members, habitual offenders and violent inmates with “a palpable sense of menace.”

“For 17 days and nights, Mr. Lowe lived in a constant state of fear of confrontation or abuse,” the lawsuit stated.

Lowe did not appear before a judge until his eighth day in jail. Palmer in an email stated it never was clear why Lowe wasn’t assigned a lawyer.

Lowe was released after 17 days. He took a Greyhound bus from Tucumcari back to Flagstaff. A detective eventually obtained Lowe’s mugshot from the Tucumcari jail and compared it to the photos of the burglar. Tarrant County then dropped the charges.

The suit stated that since Lowe’s incarceration, he’s been wracked by anxiety, nightmares, trauma and hip pain in the same areas where he bruised while trying to sleep in his cell. He suffered economic damages from a cancellation of an outdoor tour he was scheduled to lead in Alaska. The arrest warrants that remained in effect for several months prevented him from working.

The Quay County Sun’s emails requesting comment from Quay County manager Daniel Zamora or Quay County Detention Center administrator Christopher Birch went unanswered.