Virginia Beach, Va. - The decorated Army veteran accused of threatening to abduct a baby boy at gunpoint asked a judge for bond once again, and for the second time, bond was denied.
The Commonwealth's Attorney prosecuting this case began the bond appeal hearing with a summary of what happened last month. She says 48-year old Bryan Lowe approached a father in his driveway, pulled out a gun and said, "I think I would like to take your son." The father locks the car, honks the car horn with his key alarm, and that's when Lowe drives away. He was found miles away with a gun and knife in the truck.
Lowe has been in jail ever since, but attorney's tried to get him out for the second time today.
Lowe's wife, Lisa Lowe, testified on her husband's behalf, giving very similar testimony as the first bond hearing.
Lisa Lowe said the two weeks leading up to his arrest, Lowe was acting weird, not sleeping for days, and acting paranoid. He was talking about corporate and government conspiracy, and even covering up computer webcams and phones with tape and band aids.
Lisa Lowe says he wasn't taking his medicine; and that Lowe is disabled, both physically and mentally -- he is being treated for PTSD. She says he was also diagnosed with ADD. Lisa Lowe said it got worse, and he had several episodes the weekend before everything happened, even the morning of the alleged crime. Lisa said Bryan Lowe came to her workplace just hours before, yelling and panicked, not in an aggressive manner, but definitely not 'his usual state'. She says she knew he wasn't taking his medicine and tried to get him to take it again, but he didn't. She kept saying in court today, "It's not my husband."
Unlike the first bond hearing, Lowe's attorney Greg Turpin introduced Dr. Ryan Wald, a clinical psychiatrist He has never treated Lowe, but was there to the mental state Lowe could have been in at the time of the incident and where Lowe's mental state is now. The defense's argument was to say that Lowe would continue to regress if he was in jail, not getting the treatment he needs. Dr. Wald says what Lowe's wife was describing was a "manic episode" where Lowe could have been delusional at the time of the alleged crime.
Last time, the bond hearing was held for Bryan Lowe because the judge was afraid that the out-patient treatment center wouldn't be secure enough for Lowe and that he could check himself out, so Lowe's attorney's said today there was a facility treatment center that could take Lowe in and keep him secured.
But today, the judge agreed with the previous ruling, saying he is just not comfortable sending Lowe to get treatment now, not only for the safety of the community, but because he really doesn't know Lowe's current mental state or if he was competent enough to even understand what was happening in court today.
"I'm not satisfied about his competency at this point," the judge said. "I have to balance out the safety of the community. We need to have assurance and I'm not there yet."
So the judge recommended that Lowe should obtain a mental evaluation as soon as possible and said once that evaluation is done, they may revisit the issue and have another bond appeal. Until then, Lowe's next court date is scheduled for October.
