As you can see from the above screen grab, Mr. Brown, like so many other eBay thieves, practiced excellent customer service. His customers claimed to be "in love" with him, thanks to his prompt delivery and "good communication." One customer remarked that the camera he bought was missing its instructions. Guess the owner didn't pack them.
Mr. Brown's bail has been set at $100,000. He faces 10 years in prison if convicted. The TSA is reportedly taking the matter "seriously."
Bail set at $100,000 for airport baggage screener [Newsday]
TSA agent helped himself to a $47,900 camera (and more!) [Gadling] (Thanks, Geoffrey!)
This is what you get when you don't screen the people doing the screening.
]]>same thing happened to me. i lost an extremely nice discman in checked baggage. TSA denied my claim, saying I didn't have enough information, though I provided them everything from the baggage ticket to the original receipt. I've never checked anything more than clothes since then.
]]>LOL! You stole my comment!
]]>Uhh yeah..I don't think so..
The next President is going to be Obama. He is definately not goin gto scale BACK government..
Not to mention..since when should the president have any say whatsoever as to how we travel? This fascist bullshit is really getting depressing..
]]>@MayorBee is getting what plants crave:
ANOTHER government agency! Try to keep up here, O.K. ?
]]>LOL! Nice Palin zinger! *kudos*
]]>"..time to screen the screeners"
I propose a new government agency who's purpose will be to watch over said government agency. I'm sure this is alogical way to approach the problem. Everyone knows that when government fails the solution is MORE government.
I also propose that we pay them LESS than we pay TSA employess, thus improving the economy by saving on tax-payer monies!
Man.. I'm a genius.. Move over Obama!
]]>@shepd:
Maybe that's the point? Theft is more lucrative and more worth the effort. I think that's at the very least how the thief sees it.
]]>@HFC:
i think getting paid less than $10 an hour in an economy where a dollar is worth about 4 cents tends to ENCOURAGE people to steal in order to make a real living. Just my opinion though.
]]>I think maybe if the AIRLINES paid for security it would be expected to actually make travelling more secure(including the property of customers). This is how the market works. if you airline gets blown up and all your customer's belongings are stolen by your employees you will probably lose alot of business unless of course you're in America. We'll take just about anything with a little bit of vaseline.
What we get with TSA IS what WE pay for. After all, the government owns, cteates, and earns NOTHING. All that money they spend is our money. ;-)
]]>Rest assured, though, if this guy gets off, Gov. Palin's prepared to offer him a job...
]]>Really? I thought they were PAID to be incompetant and arrogant? I thought the whole point of TSA was to let the slaves know who's in charge. Fake security in exchange for the loss of real liberties. Isn't that how the saying goes?
]]>OMG, Fucking owned..
]]>Try us out...we don't bite! Or you could always use a combo of international carriers to go from SFO to ORD the long way around the world...with the added benefit of picking up some foreign policy experience while you float above Russia!
]]>TSA doesn't believe that Macbook Air's are laptops...
]]>Myself and plenty of others here have worked for very little (less than $10/hr even!) and none of us have considered breaking the law at work.
Being lazy/useless because your wages don't motivate you is one thing (not commendable, but psychologically understandable). Breaking the law, stealing other people's stuff is another (wrong and deserves zero compassion).
He's not even being lazy, he's actually working harder just to steal stuff and sell it! :-(
]]>Please proceed through the gate and buy another bottle of overpriced water.
]]>If you're flying to or from the US, though, the TSA pisses all over the foreign-airline party, too. :(
At least it's a more pleasant experience once you get into the air.
]]>@TrevorYYC:
It's easy to hide this kind of stuff - we had a janitor stealing stuff at our retail store by hiding it in trash bags full of paper towels. Take them out to the loading dock, good stuff in your car, trash bag in the dumpster, and everything is gravy. You could conceivably be sneaky about this...but stealing a camera from a major news station and putting it on ebay isn't the best way to do that.
TSA is under the DHS, not the DoJ. I actually work for DHS and can honestly tell you that everybody hates the TSA for their total incompitance and arrogance.
]]>@YourTechSupport: Ooh, clever.
]]>Your dignity, for starters.
]]>If the TSA steals your stuff, don't complain too loudly or you'll be branded a TERRIST!
]]>If the TSA steals your stuff, don't complain too loudly or you'll be branded a T
]]>A battery short can simply be replaced with a new battery (or the charger cable you conveniently included in your carry-on)
]]>I think this is a fairly wide-spread problem. I had one "inspected" bag that was missing some candy I had packed. I'm guessing it ended up in the TSA break room.
]]>Unfortunately they're just there to put on one big, obnoxious show. Federal rent-a-cops.
]]>I think since this isn't the first or last case of ramapant theft, these TSA people and baggage handlers for that matter, need to be patted down before entering work, inventory of personal items and carried items made, signed, and then patted down and everything checked when finishing work for the day. If there's more than what was there earlier, like suddenly an ipod or laptop, off they go to jail and the owners of the stolen items located. And just so the TSA isn't covering their own butts and conducting their own patdowns, I think the police should be doing it.
]]>A theif is a theif is a theif. Doesn't matter if they make min wage or make 500K a year.
There are theifs in almost every type of job on this planet. This does not surpise me one bit this happened, nobody should be shocked by this and just because he worked for the TSA means nothing.
Some of our most trusted officials in Gov. have lied and stolen from us. 200K is chump change.
]]>This has become a forgotten phrase these last eight years. No, I don't blame Mr. Bush for some low-life thief, but it's just one symptom of the disease.
]]>I was in Denver, and was rushed through security. As I was putting my boots on, I noticed they did not give me a large gold bracelet my grandmother left to me. I had to ask for it back. Well, I had not told anyone off like that in a long long time.
]]>Yup, I avoid flying through the US at all costs now. It's not worth it anymore and there are plenty of international airlines that provide a basic level of something resembling service.
]]>They wouldn't care if they noticed, they're appointed by Bush and told to look the other way.
]]>of course, he'd forever be chased by mulleted men & their wackadoo wives.
]]>Also, this brings up a potential strategy for keeping your iPod safe: pack it full of plastique!
Liability statement: The above suggestion is satirical humor and should not be acted upon.
]]>He steals $200,000...
Gets caught.
Bail is set at $100,000.
So.... if he skips bail, he's still $100K ahead?
]]>@twophrasebark: their job is to prevent the stupid from being fearful. and they don't even do that particularly effectively.
]]>@SkokieGuy: You would think but likely they won't do a thing about it as it isn't high enough on the priority scale to drop whatever it is they are essentially not doing to do anything about this.
I flew for the first time in 15 years two weeks ago. It wasn't an awful experience by any means - I believe I was coming and going during off-peak times so I was able to get "in and out" just fine. The TSA folks didn't seem to worried about me or my belongings, and I had my baggage checked. (Which now I understand why people don't enjoy that after seeing how rough my baggage looked after I picked it up from baggage claim) It will be a good long while (4-6 months depending on my employer) before I venture out by plane again. Next time, I'm doing the carry-on thing and buying things at the local Walgreens that I cannot carry on.
]]>Either way, if you fly enough you're sure to get something stolen.
]]>The theory here goes something like this:
TSA workers steal all electronics from checked baggage.
Bombs are electronics.
TSA workers will steal the bombs meant for the plane while stealing the other goodies.
TSA worker takes iPod, cameras, laptops and bombs home.
TSA worker blows up.
TSA worker < plane full of travellers.
These are the real heroes people!
]]>No, we get what the government/airlines pay for. The people setting wages aren't getting their stuff stolen, the common people traveling are.
]]>@YourTechSupport: What's left of them.
]]>Yup, the TSA denies claims, denies any significant amount of theft occurs, and will no doubt describe this man as an "isolated incident".
It's obvious that he was working in collusion with others and others are doing the same thing.
How sad that yet another government agency, designed to protect us, is so inadequate that they cannot even manage themselves. And despite the outcry of thousands of travelers who have reported thefts, an outside force (bless you CNN) had to uncover this blatant level of criminal activity.
Perhaps our next President will acknowledge what everyone in the airline industry and most frequent travelers know - that TSA is largely security theater. With our economy in free-fall, perhaps our precious tax dollars can be spent in a more effective way of actually deterring terrorism.
]]>Kudos to you, sir.
]]>Yeah...a couple of years ago I lost my first iPod nano somewhere between Gatwick and Newark. I doubt it unzipped my suitcase, climbed out onto the wing, and parachuted to safety over Greenland.
]]>"...the TSA will invariably deny your request for compensation if you file a theft claim..."
]]>This new New Jersey were talking about, you could taxi a DC-9 home and everybody would swear they didn't see nothing.
]]>How did no one notice? Because all his co-workers were too loaded up with their own hauls. It will be time to "screen the screeners" when one of them allows a bomb on a flight. It's hard to believe this hasn't happened already. That's what you get when you hire a bunch of 7-11 rejects to keep us "secure."
]]>I thought there was a post here this year that had that quip in it...
]]>Reason #4725 not to put yourself through the Gestapo circus at the airports.
]]>How did no one (including his co-workers) at the airlines notice him walking out with laptops or movie cameras? Maybe it's time to screen the screeners.
]]>Sadly, this doesn't surprise me at all.
]]>Why should this incident decrease our confidence in the TSA? After all, it's not their job to prevent stealing. It's their job to prevent, um, what's their job again?
]]>it figures i wonder if he has any macbook airs
]]>