Another TSA Sting Yields another iPad-Stealing TSA Employee

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.

TSA Officer Arrested For Attacking Pilot with Hot Coffee

TSA Officers don’t just attack the Public. They attack our airline pilots, too! A JFK TSO was arrested today for throwing a cup of hot coffee in the face of an off-duty American Airlines airman.

The Daily Mail Online reports:

An airport security worker was arrested after throwing a cup of hot coffee over a pilot who told her to stop swearing.

Transportation Security Administrator (TSA) Lateisha El, 30, was in the middle of a conversation with work colleagues at a JFK Airport terminal when she was interrupted by the American Airlines pilot.

What swearing was Lateisha El doing? She was using the “n-word,” apparently in casual chit-chat with her co-workers.

Trivett, of Butler, Tennessey, told them they should ‘conduct themselves more professionally in uniform and not use profanity or the n-word,’ according to the New York Post.

Shiny Badge certainly agrees with Captain Trivett. These folks are in uniform representing the United States of America. This news story is being covered internationally; these TSA Officers, instead of enhancing America’s image, are disgracing it.

Trivett was not seriously injured. El, of Brooklyn’s East New York, was charged with harassment and misdemeanor-assault for the incident at 5am on March 28.

We urge Shiny Badge readers to contact their congressman or woman and make sure that appropriate Federal charges are brought against Lateisha El. This wasn’t just a simple assault; it was an attack on our transportation infrastructure.

See also the New York Post’s coverage and the thread on FlyerTalk.