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.

Passenger Claims: “The TSA Feels and Steals your Family Jewels!”

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CBS News is reporting about a passenger who’s jewelry was allegedly stolen by a sticky-fingered TSA Officer:

Terri Ivester was on her way to a family christening in Chicago when she ran into a snag at the security checkpoint at Logan Airport.

Terri Ivester says, “The TSA agent holds my backpack up, and um, says there’s a water bottle in this backpack, I’m going to have to take that.”

That’s when Ivester says the agent left the area with her bag.

George Nacara, who is head of the TSA at Logan, tells the I-Team that passengers have the right to stay with their bags.

Needless to say, when the bag was returned, her jewels were gone. And, of course, she didn’t discover it until the trail was cold.

Ivester says she continued through the security checkpoint and she never gave it another thought until she got dressed for the christening.

“I’m ready to put on my jewelry and I can’t find it,” she says.

She realized she was missing four pieces including a single strand of pearls and a double strand bracelet totaling $3,700.

The Boston CBS Affiliate has this story:

The TSA deceptively says that “only” 382 TSA Officers have been fired for stealing from passengers. What they don’t tell you is that they give each one the opportunity to resign before they’re fired. In truth, thousands of TSA officers have lost their jobs because they were caught stealing. And just last year, over 318 TSA agents were arrested for crimes against the travelling public.

 

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!

 

TSA to Defend The Arrest of Nicholas George. His Crime: Carrying Arabic Flashcards on a Plane.

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Our friends at Lowering The Bar report:

This is an update on a story I mentioned in 2010 (“TSA Detains Possible Terrorist Armed With Flashcards“), and today’s update shows that the government has, if possible, lost IQ points and concern for civil rights over the last two years.

Nicholas George was detained in Philadelphia and interrogated for four hours after sharp-eyed but pinheaded TSA employees decided he was a threat because: (1) his passport shows he’s been to the Middle East sometime in his life and (2) he was carrying flashcards with Arabic words on them (including “bomb”). There are two possible explanations for these facts, of course: (1) he is a student who is studying the Middle East and the language most people speak there, or (2) he is a English-speaking terrorist who is for some reason planning to say “bomb” in Arabic on a plane in the United States.

Now the TSA is claiming it wasn’t his flashcards but the determination by a Behavior Detection Officer that raised suspicion on him!

Let’s hope justice prevails, but I won’t hold my breath.

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.