Category Archives: Theft

TSA Thievery

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.

No Job Too Small for the TSA

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The TSA doesn’t just steal high-ticket items, like iPads. And they don’t always net thousand of dollars with every “score.” They’ll take as little as $36 dollars.

According to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report, the 52-year-old Reggie Edwards, pictured below, stole $36 from the victim’s suitcase. He was charged with larceny under $50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WSOC TV is reporting:

Passengers just hearing about the news were outraged.

“The employees are supposed to be protecting our land from future terrorist attacks, not stealing from fellow Americans,” said Jimmy Demopoulos

Edwards was fired for the incident and a TSA Spokesman said in a statement Sunday that “TSA does not tolerate theft and moved immediately to terminate this individual.”

Eyewitness News went to an address listed for Edwards on Sunday. A man answered the door and then slammed it shut.

See more news at WSOC TV.

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.

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.

TSA Officer Pleads Guilty to Stealing Cash from Passenger

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TSA Officer John W. Irwin entered a guilty plea to the charges that he stole cash from a passenger. His motivation: retaliation! The incident happened back in 2011 to a passenger with a medical condition who asked to be manually searched. The passenger put the money in the bin, and the TSA took it!

The Virginian Pilot reports:

Irwin initially denied to police any knowledge of the money, according to the court statement. He later told police he put the money in his locker, records state. In a statement to police, Irwin wrote, “when the passenger returned and I saw that it was the passenger who had given my fellow employees a hard time. I just didn’t let on that I had the money.”

Let’s hope the judge throws the book at this domestic terrorist.

 

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.