Florida Public Indecency Case
The midday encounter involved alleged oral sex beside a vehicle and a third man exposing himself in an adjacent parking space.
Incident and arrests: November 30, 2025 | Pleas: not guilty | Last verified status: unresolved
Summary
A Sunday noon disturbance in a Florida Keys supermarket parking lot led to the arrest of three adults on allegations involving public sexual activity and exposure.
Monroe County deputies responded to the Winn-Dixie in Marathon on November 30, 2025, after witnesses reported explicit conduct beside parked vehicles.
Police alleged that 45-year-old Sharon Czaplinsky and 43-year-old Marshall Lowery were engaged in oral sex near or inside a vehicle in public view.
A third man, 59-year-old Michael Howard, was reportedly in an adjacent parking space with his genitals exposed.
Deputies arrested all three. The booking counts included indecent exposure, disorderly intoxication and an allegation involving an unnatural or lascivious act.
The defendants pleaded not guilty. Lowery reportedly posted $3,500 bail, while Czaplinsky and Howard remained in custody when the story was first published.
The arrest was not Czaplinsky’s first public-sex case that year. In August 2025, she and 61-year-old Vincent Crews were accused of sexual activity outside a Tom Thumb store.
The earlier case ended with no-contest pleas to disorderly conduct. Czaplinsky received probation, and Crews received credit for approximately two weeks already served.
The November case must be evaluated independently. A prior plea can affect later court decisions but does not prove the new allegations.
No reliable later public reporting revealed how the Winn-Dixie prosecution concluded.
1. The Crime
The alleged offenses involved sexual conduct and exposure in a publicly accessible supermarket parking lot.
The state would need to prove the conduct occurred, was visible or likely visible to others and satisfied the elements of the specific counts filed against each defendant.
Alcohol-related observations contributed to disorderly-intoxication allegations.
2. Crime Location
The incident occurred in the parking lot of a Winn-Dixie supermarket in Marathon, Florida.
The earlier August case involving Czaplinsky occurred outside a Tom Thumb store and is not the same prosecution.
3. Date and Time of the Crime
- August 2025Czaplinsky and Vincent Crews were arrested in a separate public-sex case.
- Later in 2025The Tom Thumb case ended with no-contest pleas to disorderly conduct.
- November 30, 2025, around noonDeputies responded to the Winn-Dixie parking lot.
- November 30, 2025Czaplinsky, Lowery and Howard were arrested.
- Following arraignmentAll three pleaded not guilty.
- July 30, 2026No reliable final outcome for the Winn-Dixie case had been located.
4. Police Department
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office investigated the parking-lot incident.
The case was processed through Monroe County court and jail records.
5. Suspect Name
The defendants are Sharon Czaplinsky, Marshall Lowery and Michael Howard.
6. Suspect Age
Czaplinsky was 45, Lowery was 43 and Howard was 59.
7. Charges
| Charge or Issue | Classification | Reported Basis | Outcome or Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indecent exposure | Misdemeanor allegation | Howard was allegedly exposed in an adjacent parking space. | Pending in the last verified reporting |
| Disorderly intoxication | Misdemeanor allegation | Deputies reported intoxication-related public disturbance. | Pending |
| Unnatural or lascivious act | Misdemeanor allegation | Czaplinsky and Lowery allegedly engaged in oral sex in public view. | Pending |
8. Bond Amount
Lowery reportedly posted $3,500 bond.
Czaplinsky and Howard remained in custody when the original article was published. Later release conditions were not reliably located.
9. Conviction
No conviction in the November 2025 Winn-Dixie case was located.
Czaplinsky’s earlier disorderly-conduct plea belongs to a separate incident.
10. Sentence
No sentence had been verified in the Winn-Dixie prosecution.
In the earlier Tom Thumb case, Czaplinsky received probation and Crews received time served.
11. Outcome
The immediate outcome was the arrest of all three adults and not-guilty pleas.
No physical injury was reported.
12. Victim
No individual physical victim was identified.
The public and businesses using the parking lot were the interests protected by the indecency and disorder statutes.
Why the Earlier Case Must Stay Separate
A prior public-indecency or disorderly-conduct case can be relevant to bond or sentencing but is not evidence that a later allegation occurred.
Each prosecution requires its own witnesses, observations and proof.
Verified chronology and latest status
The Marathon Winn-Dixie case involved three separate arrestees and more than one alleged act, which makes attribution important. Deputies said Sharon Czaplinsky and Marshall Lowery were engaged in sexual conduct near a vehicle while Michael Howard was exposed in an adjacent parking space. The counts reported for the three were not necessarily identical. The cleaned article therefore avoids collapsing all three people into one undifferentiated charge line.
The November 30, 2025 date is retained because it is the reported incident-and-arrest date, not the later date the story circulated online. Reporting also indicated that the defendants entered not-guilty pleas. A not-guilty plea is a procedural position, not an acquittal, and no later reliable final disposition was located in the reviewed source set. The article consequently describes the case as unresolved after those pleas.
The article date is 2025-11-30 because November 30, 2025 incident and arrests in Marathon, Florida. The old July/August 2026 import timestamp did not represent the underlying case event and is therefore replaced.
Current procedural posture
Sharon Czaplinsky, Marshall Lowery and Michael Howard were arrested after the reported Winn-Dixie parking-lot conduct and later entered not-guilty pleas; no final disposition was located.
The case reviewed later case-specific reporting for a plea, dismissal, verdict, sentence or other completed disposition. When none was located, the post remains explicitly at the arrest/charge stage. Bond, release conditions and a not-guilty plea are reported only for what they are and are not converted into proof of guilt.
Sources
Disclaimer: This article summarizes case-specific public records and reporting available through August 11, 2026. Charges and police allegations remain allegations unless a valid plea or court judgment establishes guilt.
