PARKER — Police have arrested an Alabama woman for attempting to protect and serve — eventually abusing her power — though she was not actually a law enforcement officer, according to police reports.
Morcia Dawn Lowery, 40, had walked the grounds of Smuggler’s Cove RV Park in Parker wearing a shirt with police insignia since August. She allegedly told neighbors she was a U.S. marshal and threatened to lock up unruly juveniles and place witnesses in “protective custody” until her arrest Sunday at about 2 p.m., according to Parker Police arrest reports.
Lowery also had apparently resigned herself to the “bad cop” role, abusing her self-appointed powers while in the line of duty, police reported.
According to management of Smuggler’s Cove, Lowery told residents she ended up in Bay County after a drug bust gone horribly wrong. Her 9-year-old son had been shot in the head during a shootout, she had said. She got revenge on the killer, also shooting him in the head, but requested to be reassigned following the traumatic experience. She had been working the child protection beat since, and she told residents she had closed about 80 cases of child exploitation.
Once residing in the RV park, Lowery began to grow bolder, telling one man she would place him in “protective custody” for an outstanding warrant in Tennessee, police reported. On other occasions, she threatened unruly juveniles in the neighborhood with juvenile detention if they didn’t walk the straight and narrow, according to police reports.
“She was telling people about all these things she did and all these things she could do, and nothing would ever come to fruition,” said Crystal Britt, Smuggler’s Cove property manager.
After several months of Lowery blaming her late rent on delinquent paychecks from the U.S. Marshals Service and increasingly suspicious tales, management of Smuggler’s Cove called authorities.
Lowery owed about $1,500 in back rent at the time, Britt said.
Lowery was charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer and grand theft.