Airport Baggage Handler Accused of Stealing $84,000 Worth of Belongings
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iStockphoto(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) — A Minneapolis-St. Paul airport baggage handler was busted this week after prosecutors say he was caught on tape stealing valuables from the bags of passengers.
David Vang, 23, allegedly walked away with $84,000 worth of passengers’ belongings over an eight month period.
Guns, jewelry and watches were among the items prosecutors say he stuffed into his backpack.
Vang faces 11 felony counts of theft.
Brad Garrett, a former FBI special agent and ABC News analyst, said it would be difficult to stop something like this from happening again.
“You basically can’t secure bags because of the sheer volume and the movement of the bags and the handlers’ ability to have the bags where no one’s watching him at any given time,” he said.
A second airport horror story was also exposed this week when a Delta Airlines employee allegedly breached security at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Marcelino Aponte, 31, was turned away by TSA officials because he did not have a boarding pass for his flight to Orlando.
Authorities say Aponte then used his airport security badge to get through locked areas and board his flight– completely bypassing any metal detectors.
TSA officials told ABC News they responded within nine minutes, however Aponte’s flight landed in Orlando before he was detained.
“The reality is if you work at an airline and you’re moving around through the airport from non secure to secure areas, you in effect do not have to go through TSA clearances each time you go in and out of a secure area,” Garrett said.
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