CMPD officer suspended over violent arrest at CLT didn’t turn on body camera, records say
A local police officer did not turn on his body camera before a fight with a passenger at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, according to recent court records.
Michael Kernea, who lives in Georgia, filed records in a pending lawsuit. He said CMPD wrote to him to say Officer Lee Lowery “did not have probable cause” to arrest him in 2020.
Kernea’s lawsuit says the violent arrest sprung from something trivial: an argument over a stool.
What happened
The lawsuit, first filed in December 2022 in United States District Court, says that Kernea was at the airport with his wife after a vacation. When he got up from a stool in one of the airport restaurants, Lowery approached him, it says.
“Officer Lowery was visibly upset and hostile, accusing Mr. Kernea of not returning the stool to its correct position,” the lawsuit says.
When Kernea did not do that and the two argued, Lowery warned him he would go to jail if he said “one more word” before punching him in the face and body-slamming him, the lawsuit alleges.
Lowery charged Kernea with resisting a public officer and disorderly conduct. The district attorney’s office dismissed the charges “in the interest of justice,” according to Mecklenburg County court records.
Kernea’s lawsuit says that CMPD acknowledged misconduct by Lowery in a July 2020 letter. Internal Affairs found that Lowery had no probable cause to investigate, “initiated needless contact” and did not follow department policy on responding to resistance. They concluded his use of force was not justified, the lawsuit alleges.
Lowery also turned off his body camera, according to the lawsuit. The officer received 240 hours of unpaid suspension and was required to complete certain training, the lawsuit said.
Kernea and his wife are suing the city of Charlotte. They at first tried to sue the city and Lowery in his individual capacity, but a judge dismissed Lowery.
“CMPD cannot speak to pending litigation or Internal Affairs investigations as they are confidential in nature,” department spokesperson Sandy D’Elosua said by email.
Internal Affairs data from 2023 on body camera violations says there were 39 complaints that year. Almost every complaint was sustained.
Charlotte asks judge to dismiss lawsuit
The city asked on March 10 that Kernea’s suit be dismissed. In their latest filing, they did not dispute his account, but said that he failed to find a “policy, decision, omission, or practice of the City that led to the injury.”
Lowery proved the opposite, the city reasoned.
“Indeed, the City determined that the acts of Officer Lowery were so egregious and violative of the City’s policies that it suspended him for 240 hours without pay and required him to go through remedial training,” the filing said.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM.