Bounty hunter kidnaps woman in Missouri for warrants out of Louisiana, feds say
A Louisiana bounty hunter was sentenced to prison after officials said he traveled to Missouri to kidnap a woman wanted for misdemeanor warrants.
Wayne D. Lozier Jr., 46, was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to an April 22 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Lozier had been in custody since 2022, so his three-year sentence represents time he’s already served, according to prosecutors.
“We are just glad that this saga is over. Our hope is that Mr. Lozier can continue his life. By continuing to fight, we received a much better outcome that he was originally sentenced to. We thank Mr. Lozier for trusting us to fight for him,” Lozier’s attorney Tyler Morgan told McClatchy news in an email.
Lozier, a bounty hunter in Louisiana, traveled to St. Peters, Missouri on May 9, 2019 with his partner Jody L. Sullivan with the mission of bringing back a woman who had warrants out for her arrest in Louisiana, officials said. But neither of the bounty hunters were licensed to work in Missouri, prosecutors said.
Lozier and Sullivan went to a home and entered it without the homeowner’s permission and found the wanted woman in the basement, according to an indictment.
They handcuffed the woman, “forcefully” removed her from the home, put her in an SUV and drove away, prosecutors said.
Shortly after, the woman called her own cellphone which was still at the home and a local police officer there spoke to Lozier. Lozier told the officer they worked for a bail bondsman and were taking the woman to Louisiana, according to court records.
The officer told Lozier over the phone that he was breaking the law and he should take the woman back where they took her from, but Lozier refused, officials said.
When the officer asked if they had permission to enter the home, Lozier hung up the phone, the court document said.
“When the victim sought help from clerks at a gas station in Sullivan, Missouri, Lozier shocked the victim multiple times with a Taser and pulled her hair. He and Sullivan then dragged the victim out of the store by the chain that connected her handcuffs and leg,” prosecutors said.
But instead of bringing her back to Louisiana as intended, Lozier later dropped the woman off to a detention center in Mississippi, officials said. She was released from that county jail six days later, according to the indictment.
Sullivan pleaded guilty Sept. 18, 2023, to conspiracy and kidnapping charges. She was sentenced to five years of probation, the release said.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Bounty hunter kidnaps woman in Missouri for warrants out of Louisiana, feds say."
