Category Archives: Airports

Lightning Strikes Twice at the TSA

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You probably remember Reggie Edwards, the TSA “officer” who stole $36 dollars from someone and got caught.

Mr. Edwards has been arrested again! This time for stealing $150.00. Seems like after the $36 caper made the news, another passenger came forward and there was enough evidence (perhaps from the video surveillance) to indict Reggie for this crime.

WSOC reports:

HARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte woman told Eyewitness News she also had cash stolen from a TSA baggage inspector at Charlotte Douglas airport.

Reggie Edwards was arrested and charged with stealing cash out of a suitcase.

Edwards was arrested again Thursday after police said they linked him to stealing $150 from a woman’s suitcase just weeks before.

“I was shocked,” said victim Nancy Turner. “I have always traveled like this. Not to carry a lot on me, and just to put it deep inside my luggage and it’s never been bothered and my luggage has been inspected a number of times.”

You can read the whole report at WSOT TV’s web site. And see the thread on Flyertalk, too.

Another TSA Sting Yields another iPad-Stealing TSA Employee

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Just yesterday, when I was flying through Burbank airport, I told the TSA Officer not to steal my iPad.

“Now why would I do that?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied, “why don’t you ask Sean Henry?”

Sean Henry, Alleged iPad ThiefMr. Henry, pictured above, was accused of stealing two iPads that were involved in a sting operation at JFK airport earlier this week.

ABC News Reports:

TSA baggage screener Sean Henry, 32, was arrested on Tuesday after a sting operation conducted jointly by the TSA and the Port Authority Police Department caught Henry leaving the airport with two iPads that had been planted as part of the sting, as well as numerous other electronics devices he had allegedly stolen from passengers.

The report continues:

Just as in a recent ABC News investigation of thefts by TSA agents, the sting used the iPads’ own tracking capabilities to follow the stolen tablets’ movements.

And, where there’s smoke, there’s fire! All sorts of stolen items were at his house and on his person:

After arresting Henry, Coleman said, investigators found more devices in his backpack that they have identified as stolen property, including a MacBook Pro and a pair of new Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones still in the box. They also found another set of Beats Headphones, an Apple iPad Mini, an Apple iPod and an iPhone, which were taken for further investigation.

A subsequent search of his house also turned up a black Apple Macbook that was identified as stolen property, Coleman said.

Henry was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. He was released on his own recognizance on Wednesday night and is due back in court in January. He has not yet entered a plea.

Why do they steal? These fine men and women blame “the system.” It’s “the man’s” fault. Pythias Brown, who stole over $800,000 worth of merchandise from traveling Americans, said it was because he wasn’t paid enough.

Read more at ABC News and see a video of the sting operation they conducted in Florida.

EWR Airport! Now With 44 Fewer TSA Workers! A Parade of Failure!

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The AP is carrying this story:

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The Transportation Security Administration on Friday moved to fire 25 employees at Newark Liberty International Airport and suspend 19 others for what it said was improper screening of checked luggage, the latest in a series of problems at one of the country’s busiest airports.

The alleged screening failures were uncovered late last year after surveillance cameras were installed in one of the airport’s 25 screening rooms to check for possible thefts, the TSA said.

Eight employees were fired in June in the investigation. The latest action raises to 52 the number of TSA employees at Newark caught up in the investigation, making it the biggest single disciplinary action taken by the TSA at a U.S. airport.

See more news at Boston.com.

The investigation was originally to catch theft. The thieves who were caught red-handed decided to resign, so they won’t be factored into the TSA’s official statistics. (But we know the rest of the story!) We hope that criminal charges were filed, but don’t hold your breath on this.

‘‘The decision to take disciplinary actions today with the proposed removal of 25 individuals and suspension of 19 others reaffirms our strong commitment to ensure the safety of the traveling public and to hold all our employees to the highest standards of conduct and accountability,’’ said Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokeswoman.

The theft investigation, which the TSA said was the reason the cameras were installed, did not lead to any charges. The TSA said an employee who was a suspect in that probe ended up resigning, though the cameras were left in place, turning up the screening lapses.

At least are representatives are starting to take notice:

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, criticized Friday what he called the TSA’s ‘‘parade of failures.’’

A Parade of Failures! Everyone loves a parade!

 

Meet Pythias Brown. He Stole $800,000 From You, and He’s Not Sorry.

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See, Pythias is a victim! The system made it too easy for him to steal.

He claims some of his homies in the TSA stole even more. And the most outrageous fact: He’ll be out of jail in a year. His sentence was only for 3 years.

How was he caught? By CNN! He tried to sell a stolen CNN camera on eBay but forgot to take off all the stickers that tied the camera to the news network. The buyer called CNN and his criminal career unraveled.

“What’s in YOUR wallet?” Not Cash, after the TSA Takes it!

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LAX has a reputation for being one of the most dangerous airports to fly through, if you don’t want the TSA to steal your stuff!

And it looks like the TSA Officers at LAX want to maintain their reputation. Just last week, police arrested a TSA officer who, it is alleged, took cash out of a passenger’s wallet. ABC News reports:

A TSA employee working in a Los Angeles airport could become the 382nd worker fired from the security agency for allegedly stealing from travelers, a years-long problem highlighted in a recent ABC News investigation.

Los Angeles police released a statement late Friday saying a passenger came to the authorities after he said money had been taken out of his wallet while he was going through airport security at Los Angeles International Airport. After a brief investigation, police arrested 47-year-old TSA employee Clyde Reese for the alleged theft.

As of Friday, the TSA said Reese would be removed from screening duties and could be fired should wrongdoing be proven, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. Reese was reportedly booked in Los Angeles on a misdemeanor theft charge.

Reese’s crimes are small change compared to other TSA employees:

Another former TSA employee, Pythias Brown, served three years in prison for theft and said he stole approximately $800,000 worth of cash and merchandise from travelers before he was caught.

Mr. Brown, now out of jail, states (of course!) that it’s the TSA’s fault for making it easy for folks like him to steal. Please write to your representatives and get them to treat these crimes as the treasonous attacks against America that they really are, and include penalties up to and including the death penalty for people like Mr. Pythias Brown. People like Pythias deserve a pithy ending.

 

Our hats, belts, and shoes are off to the LAX police who were brave enough to confront this TSA terrorist and arrest him.

Posted in LAX

Sad But Not Surprising: ABC News Catches Thieving TSA Officer Red-Handed

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Readers of Shiny Badge have known for a long time what ABC News just discovered: the TSA is responsible for a large part of airport theft.

That’s right. When they’re not molesting children, the TSA steals anything it can sell. They especially like iPads.

ABC News reports:

In the latest apparent case of what have been hundreds of thefts by TSA officers of passenger belongings, an iPad left behind at a security checkpoint in the Orlando airport was tracked as it moved 30 miles to the home of the TSA officer last seen handling it.

Confronted two weeks later by ABC News, the TSA officer, Andy Ramirez, at first denied having the missing iPad, but ultimately turned it over after blaming his wife for taking it from the airport.

Andy Ramirez, the TSA Officer caught red handed hemmed and hawed as he tried to put the blame on his wife.You can see the full report in this video:

Again, we ask our readers to write their Congressmen and get these crimes treated more seriously. This is not petty theft; this is treason and should be handled the same way.

While the TSA fired him, he has not been arrested according to public arrest records. (We can be thankful the TSA isn’t unionized and they could at least fire him.)

In 2011 alone, hundreds of TSA Officers were arrested and convicted for crimes against passengers. Hundreds more plea-bargained and got off without jail time. The TSA checkpoint is the most dangerous part air travel.