Fired news reporter arrested for defecating on front lawn of man accused of sacrificing his poodle
Fired news reporter arrested for defecating on front lawn of man accused of sacrificing his poodle
A news reporter has been arrested and fired from a TV station after he pooped on a criminal suspect’s front lawn.
Jonathan Lowe, a journalist for KPHO in Phoenix, Arizona, was picked up by police Monday on charges of public defecation while on the job. FTV Live reported that he has since been fired from the TV station.
He was outside the home of a former Arizona State University football player, Patrick Zane Thompson, who allegedly sacrificed his family’s white poodle to appease God by putting him in a smoker.
While Lowe was covering the story for the station, he made the bizarre decision to relieve himself on the front lawn.
The police then arrived and took him away in handcuffs. Despite the arrest he still managed to file his story.
Public urination or defecation in Phoenix is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 or six months in jail.
Goodyear Police Department spokeswoman Lisa Kutis told the Phoenix New Times: ‘Lowe chose to use the front yard of a residence to relieve himself.
‘An onlooker from across the street called it in to officers. They approached him, he said he’d had to relieve himself, and they arrested him.’
CBS-affiliate KPHO then fired him.
All of his social media accounts have since been deleted.
The incident was discussed in an editorial meeting informing staffers of what happened, according to the New Times.
And FTV Live reported that it had obtained the memo sent out by News Director Dan Wilson which says that Lowe is no longer an employee and does not have access to the building.
It also reported that Lowe’s station had no reported the story.
An employee who asked not to be named says Lowe has the reputation of being ‘a good reporter’, and that it was ‘sad’.
The subject of the initial story, Thompson, was booked on suspicion of two felony and four misdemeanor counts related to the death of the family’s white poodle.
