The Occoquan Police Department detailed the incident in a statement: “In the early morning of July 27, 2024, a member of the Occoquan Police Department working a Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) impaired driving enforcement grant detail made contact with Matthew B. Lowery of Woodbridge, Virginia. Mr. Lowery, at the time, was operating a motor vehicle upon a highway within the Town of Occoquan. Following the contact, Mr. Lowery was arrested for driving under the influence under 18.2-266 and refusal of a test to determine blood alcohol content under 18.2-168.3. Mr. Lowery was transported to the Prince William County Adult Detention Center, where he was processed and released on a $2,000 bond.”
The police statement continued, noting that Lowery did not identify as a Deputy Commonwealth Attorney during the arrest: “Since that time, the Town Police have learned that Mr. Lowery is a Deputy Commonwealth Attorney for Loudoun County. At no time did Mr. Lowery identify himself as a deputy commonwealth attorney. At the time of the contact and arrest, Mr. Lowery was a private citizen, and this matter is not related to any official misconduct.”
The Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney’s office also released a statement regarding the charges: “This past weekend, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew B. Lowery was charged in Prince William County with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and refusal of a breath test. We are abiding by Loudoun County Department of Human Resources’ protocols and will not be making any further statements on this matter.”
Lowery’s attorney, Bradley Marshall, briefly commented: “We have no comment about this pending matter at this time, but we believe strongly in the justice system and the presumption of innocence.”
Lowery, a Republican, ran an unsuccessful campaign for Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney in 2023. His campaign focused on rising crime rates in the county, criticizing the current Commonwealth Attorney, Amy Ashworth, for not prosecuting crimes to the fullest extent of the law. Since Ashworth took office in 2019, violent crime in Prince William County has increased by 70%, and the number of murders doubled from 2021 to 2022, reaching 20.
Amy Ashworth was on the ropes for most of a political debate between her and challenger Matt Lowery, each vying to run the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's Office.
The incumbent Ashworth (D) has been taking heat from Lowery (R), a career prosecutor who worked for Fairfax, Prince William, and Spotsylvania counties, turned defense attorney for the increased rate of violent crime in Prince William County -- up 70 percent since 2019, the year voters chose Ashworth to be top county prosecutor.
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Republicans are making Prince William County's skyrocketing crime and murder rates a key campaign issue.
At a press conference outside the county courthouse on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, Matt Lowery, seeking to unseat Democrat Amy Ashworth to become the county's top prosecutor, says Ashworth is not prosecuting crimes to the fullest extent of the law. Since winning the seat in 2019, violent crime in Prince William is up 70%, and the number of murders in the county doubled from 2021 to 2022 to 20 murders.
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Paul B. Ebert, a Democrat who served as Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney from 1968 until his retirement in 2019, endorsed Matthew B. “Matt” Lowery, the GOP nominee running to be the county's top prosecutor.
Ebert prosecuted some of the most high-profile cases in the last 30 years, including Lorena Bobbit, who cut off her husband's penis in 1992, John Allen Muhammad, and Lee Boyd Malvo, the Washington, D.C. snipers from 2002.
