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A Transportation Security Administration agent has been arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $500 dollars from a wheelchair bound passenger as she passed through a security checkpoint at Newark Airport.

Leroy Ray allegedly went into the disabled woman’s bag as it passed through the X-ray machine.

Ray was caught on surveillance video on February 3, 2010, reaching into the woman’s bag to steal an envelope of cash, according to a criminal complaint.

The fiftyish year old woman, investigators said, was from North Jersey and was flying out of Newark to visit relatives overseas.

She apparently checked her purse several minutes after going through security, found the missing money, and went back to complain.

The victim reported $300 dollars in cash in a white envelope was missing as was $195 dollars that was in a zippered pocket of the bag.  When the woman returned to the C-1 checkpoint to complain, Ray allegedly left his post and quickly left the area.

When Ray returned to the checkpoint, he allegedly saw the woman there and then went to the Lost and Found office to turn in the envelope, the feds alleged.

TSA’s own Inspections Division helped uncover the alleged wrongdoing.

The TSA emailed NBC New York a statement “TSA will continue to move swiftly and decisively to end the federal career of any employee who engages in illegal activity on the job.”

In screening more than 2 million passengers a day nationwide, the TSA’s Ann Davis told us 23 security officers have been “removed/terminated for theft from the check point or checked baggage” since the beginning of 2007.

Ray, an eight-year veteran of the TSA who also appeared to hold a job with a private security firm, had no comment on leaving the federal courthouse.

But his attorney, Brian Hill, said “I’ve known him for a long time and everything about these allegations appear to be out of character for him.”

Ray, 45, was released on $1000 bail after an appearance in federal court in Newark.

Meanwhile, fliers at Newark Liberty Airport today were aghast at the charges.

“I watch it like a hawk,” said Lynne DeSherbinin of Norwalk, Conn. of her possessions, just before catching a flight out of Newark.

But another flier, Jose Ramirez, of Piscataway, N.J. admitted “They’re federal employees so you wouldn’t expect like that to happen to you.”

Source: NBC New York

Cops: New high-tech screener triggered fight over manhood insult

A Transportation Security Administration screener is facing an assault rap after he allegedly beat a co-worker who joked about the size of the man’s genitalia after he walked through a security scanner. The May 4 confrontation involved Rolando Negrin, 44, and other TSA employees who had previously taken part in a training session at Miami International Airport, according to the below Miami-Dade Police Department reports. Negrin, pictured in the mug shot at right, and his co-workers had been training with new “whole body image” machines–the controversial kind that provide very revealing images of a traveler–when Negrin walked through the scanner. “The X-ray revealed that [Negrin] has a small penis and co-workers made fun of him on a daily basis,” reported cops. Following his arrest, Negrin told police that he “could not take the jokes anymore and lost his mind.” After work Tuesday evening, Negrin confronted fellow TSA screener Hugo Osorno in an airport parking lot. Negrin wanted to “resolve a problem,” and get Osorno, 34, to “finally respect him.” Instead, Negrin allegedly pulled out a police baton and began striking Osorno, while demanding an apology. A witness told cops that Negrin told Osorno, in Spanish, “Get on your knees or I will kill you and you better apologize.” When Negrin, wearing his TSA uniform, arrived for work yesterday, he was arrested on an aggravated battery count and booked into the Miami-Dade lockup. Osorno, police reported, suffered “bruises and abrasions on his back and arms” during the attack.

See Arrest Report (4 pages)

Source: The Smoking Gun