By Stephen Manning, The Associated Press
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - A deputy U.S. Marshal charged with murder in a fatal shooting last week has a history of infractions as a law enforcment officer and past problems with domestic violence - a pattern prosecutors allege may explain why he shot and killed a Navy seaman after a fist fight in a Rockville parking lot.
Arthur Lloyd, 53, faces first-degree murder and other charges for allegedly shooting Ryan Stowers, 20, in the back as Stowers tried to drive away from the scene of the Oct. 28 incident. Lloyd was off-duty at the time and his wife and children witnessed the shooting.
During a bond hearing Friday, Montgomery County Deputy State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Lloyd’s wife and son had accused him of abuse. McCarthy said Lloyd also had been disciplined by the Marshal’s Service for infractions.
In 1985, Lloyd made a $10,000 payment to a federal inmate to settle a civil case against him after he allegedly tied the prisoner by the hands and feet, verbally abused the inmate and read him passages from the Bible, according to McCarthy. He was suspended without pay but not charged.
The prosecutor also cited several cases where police were called to Lloyd’s home on reports of domestic abuse. In 1999, he allegedly threw his 18-year-old son through a glass window. His wife also obtained at least two protective orders against Lloyd after he threatened to kill her in 1999 and broke a kitchen door with her head in 2001.
In all cases, Lloyd’s son and wife later asked for the orders to be dropped or did not cooperate with police. He was never charged with any crimes, McCarthy said.
The pattern of violence may explain why a traffic altercation between Stowers and Lloyd escalated into a lethal shooting, McCarthy said.
“This was a man out of control,” he said.
Montgomery District Court Judge Brian Kim ordered Lloyd to be held without bond on the charges of murder, reckless endangerment and use of a handgun during a felony. He could face life in prison without parole if convicted.
Lloyd, who suffered a broken thumb and black eye during the fight, appeared from the county detention center via a video link. He spoke only to answer simple questions from the judge and propped the large cast on his left forearm on the podium in front of him.
Halfway through the hearing, a man identified as Lloyd’s brother collapsed and had to be taken out of the courthouse on a stretcher.
One side of the small courtroom was filled with Lloyd’s family, friends and fellow marshals. His wife, Wanda Lloyd, who prosecutors said had tried to stop the shooting, sat in the front row.
Defense attorney Stefanie Roemer said Lloyd did not intend to kill Stowers and did his best to defuse the incident. She said the deputy first shot Stowers in the ankle with his service handgun to try to stop the fight and that he was trying to protect his wife and children, who sat in a nearby SUV.
“If anything, Mr. Lloyd exercised restraint in the face of a dangerous situation,” she said. “He could have just shot him in the back.”
Roemer said Lloyd, a 28-year veteran of the Marshal’s service who was posted at U.S. District Court in Washington, had a clean criminal record despite the reports of domestic violence and prisoner abuse. Matthew Fogg, who served with Lloyd for 20 years in the Marshals Service, said he was not a violent man.
“It’s a shame he’s been characterized as a hot head, a gun slinger. That’s not him at all,” Fogg said.
According to McCarthy and court documents, Lloyd and Stowers started fighting in the Mid-Pike Plaza parking lot after some form of traffic altercation. After Lloyd shot Stowers in the leg, the seaman called 911 and retreated to his car, in disbelief that he had been shot.
Lloyd pulled out his Marshals identification and ordered Stowers to get out of the car. McCarthy said one of the 40 witnesses interviewed told police that Lloyd shouted “Move that car again and I’ll shoot you. I’ll shoot you in the head.”
Stowers pulled around Lloyd and started to leave. According to McCarthy, Lloyd stepped in behind the car as it pulled away and fired three shots. One struck Stowers in the back and he crashed into a nearby store.
However, Roemer said Stowers drove his car toward Lloyd as he left, threatening the deputy and his family.