‘Can You Please Help Me!’: Louisiana Bounty Hunter Who Kidnapped Woman from Her Home In Missouri, Ignored Police Orders to Release Her Before Dumping Her In Mississippi Gets Just 3 Years
A Louisiana bounty hunter was sentenced to three years in prison with credit for time served for kidnapping a woman staying in a Missouri home and taking her to Louisiana against her will so she could face an outstanding arrest warrant.
In 2023, Wayne D. Lozier, Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. According to a Justice Department release, the 46-year-old has been in custody since March 31, 2022, so his prison sentence represents time he’s already served.
Federal prosecutors say Lozier’s conviction stems from his visit years ago to St. Peter’s, Missouri, to find a woman with an arrest warrant in Louisiana for four misdemeanor offenses and return her to St. Tammany Parish to face her charges.
Lozier and his partner, Jody L. Sullivan, had been hired by a bail bond company to locate and apprehend the victim. Lozier first called the victim and impersonated a St. Tammany Parish deputy to trick her into revealing her address.
On May 9, 2019, he and Sullivan entered the home where the victim was staying, went down to the basement where they found her, and then handcuffed her and drove her away in an SUV. Lozier also told the homeowner he didn’t need permission to enter the house.
After the homeowner contacted police, law enforcement told Lozier he was breaking the law and needed to return the victim to the home, but Lozier refused.
After stopping at a gas station in Sullivan, Missouri, the victim sought help from the clerks and customers, but Lozier stunned her with a Taser and forcefully tugged her hair.
“Can you please help me?” she said. “Can you call the police, please? These are not police officers.”
Bodycam video worn by Lozier was obtained by WAFB showed the moments Lozier shocked the victim after she tried calling for help.
“Get up. I’m not going to say it again,” Lozier says after tasing the woman. “You’re under arrest, get up. I don’t need to be a cop to arrest you.”
Prosecutors state that he and Sullivan then chained the victim using handcuffs that connected to leg shackles and dragged her out of the store.
When cops arrived at the scene, Lozier told them he and Sullivan were surety recovery agents licensed by the state of Louisiana. Local law enforcement had no idea that they had unlawfully taken the victim from a home in St. Peter’s.
Testimony and evidence at Lozier’s trial revealed that he threatened the victim, telling her that he would arrange for her to be charged with a felony offense, that she would never see her children again, and that she was his property.
He never took the woman back to Louisiana, but dropped her off at a detention facility in Mississippi, where she remained for about a week until she was released.
After Lozier was arrested, he violated his pre-trial release conditions by possessing a firearm and continuing to apprehend fugitives in Louisiana, and he was taken back into custody.
Lozier was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison in January, but an appeals court overturned his conviction, citing an issue with a jury instruction at his trial. He pleaded guilty to the same charges in March.
Jody Sullivan also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping charges in 2023. She was sentenced to five years probation in December 2024.