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Bail Bondsmen Arrested After Guns Drawn At Pasco Office

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

David Lowman, front, and his brother Donald fill out paper work outside the New Port Richey tax collector's office Tuesday.

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By Christian Wade of The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - The New Port Richey Police Department has arrested two Clearwater-based bail bondsmen who on Jan. 8 apprehended a suspect at gunpoint inside a crowded tax collector's office in west Pasco County.

Donald Lowman, 44, has been charged with being a convicted felon acting as a bail bondsmen, said Lt. Jeffrey Harrington, a police spokesman. His twin brother, David Lowman, owner of Help Bail Bonds Inc. of Clearwater, has been charged with allowing a convicted felon to act as a bondsman.

David Lowman is a licensed agent, his brother is not. Donald Lowman has a record of drug convictions, most recently in 1998.

On Jan. 8, at about 1:30 p.m., the brothers entered the Pasco County Tax Collector's Office at 4720 U.S. 19 after getting a tip that a suspect they were looking for was trying to register a stolen truck.

When the Lowmans approached the suspect, Edward John Darlington, he pulled out a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun and tried to load it.

The brothers tackled him to the floor, as shocked customers started screaming and running from the office.

Nobody was injured except Darlington, who had minor cuts on his face, but Harrington said the incident could have played out differently.

"The outcome could have been tragic," he said.

The brothers were expected to be transferred to Land O' Lakes Jail this afternoon, pending a first appearance before a county judge.

Darlington, 45, of 5123 Darlington Road in Holiday, faces charges of aggravated assault, felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, improper display of a firearm and grand theft.

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