According to a government report released on Wednesday, misconduct by TSA employees is up 26% in the last three years, with an alarming 1,900 transgressions deemed significant enough to be considered security threats. Issues included sleeping on the job, allowing family members and friends a pass on screening, and theft. The third of these violations came to light this week with the arrest of an airline worker who allegedly stole luggage from the San Francisco International Airport after the Asiana Airlines crash in early July.
In the chaos following the Flight 214 crash at SFO earlier this month, a United Airlines customer service representative and his girlfriend reportedly stole $6,000 worth of clothing, among other things, from luggage detained at the airport. This incident shows that theft is not limited solely to TSA workers, but extends to other airline employees as well.
Sean Sharif Crudup, 44, and Raychas Elizabeth Thomas, 32, have been charged with grand theft and commercial burglary. Surveillance footage taken on July 8, two days after the Asiana crash, shows Crudup rifling through a bag, which additional security footage later showed in the hands of Thomas and another, unidentified woman. Crudup was working at the SFO baggage claim at the time.
The duo did not appear to be targeting victims from the Asiana crash in their luggage heist. Rather, as Detective Sgt. Wes Matsuura told ABC news, this was “a crime of opportunity. A lot of bags were down there.”
The bag in question belonged to an airline passenger who was detained in Houston on a flight home to San Francisco as a result of runways closed after the crash. She and her family checked their bags through to SFO. When they arrived to claim their bags, they reportedly had “some issues with the bags being located” and the bag Crudup was seen with on tape was missing.
Thomas was identified after surveillance footage at a Nordstrom store showed her returning $6,000 worth of clothes in exchange for cash. Apparently, she had claimed to be the victim’s sister and said she was returning them as a favor. The victim’s personal shopper then called her to inquire why she had wished to return the clothes, which prompted the follow-up investigation and the couple’s subsequent arrest. The money still has not been recovered.
In light of this incident and the 9,000 plus other violations uncovered in the government audit, the TSA has said they are implementing recommended changes that will eradicate such transgressions and ensure that travelers are as safe as possible. United Airlines released a statement saying that they have “zero tolerance for any theft” and Crudup has been dismissed from their workforce. The airline is cooperating with the San Francisco Police Department in the ongoing investigation.
