Posted on 02/08/2004 6:23:14 AM PST by Fizzie
DIA screener charged in theft from purse By Marilyn Robinson Special to The Denver Post
Saturday, February 07, 2004 -
A federal security screener at Denver International Airport has been charged with stealing $700 from the purse of a passenger Monday night.
Steven McCumber, a 41-year- old Transportation Security Administration employee, was charged Thursday with felony theft, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney's office.
Marivel Sotelo of Longmont planned to fly out of DIA Monday night with family members and discovered, after passing through the A concourse security checkpoint, that seven $100 bills had been taken from a zippered pocket in her purse.
She discovered the $700 was missing when she stopped in an A concourse restaurant, according to a Denver Police Department report.
Sotelo was flying to California to visit her father, who is ill. Traveling with Sotelo were her 2-year- old son, her 12-year-old daughter and Sotelo's mother.
Sotelo reported the theft, and the party missed its flight.
"Needless to say, I was upset," Sotelo said Friday.
About two hours after Sotelo reported the money missing, an anonymous call led authorities to find the missing money inside one of DIA's X-ray machines, Kimbrough said.
The money was returned to Sotelo, and she and her family flew out of DIA the next morning.
McCumber was arrested Tuesday, Kimbrough said. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and is due back in court Feb. 19, she added.
Reached at home Friday, McCumber declined to talk about the incident.
The screener "has been relieved of duty, and TSA is participating fully in the investigation," said Mike Fierberg, the federal agency's spokesman for the Rocky Mountain region.
Thefts by airport security personnel are not common, officials said.
If convicted, McCumber could face up to six years in prison, Kimbrough said.
No, of course not.What could I have possibly been thinking?
Psssst ....... want to purchase a box cutter for this flight?
Snort.
I really like the "thought" processes that went on when it became obvious the "victim" had not departed the airport, but had made a complaint.
The "perp" [perps?] decided to squirm out of the trap by making an anonymous call, advising where the cash was.
I don't suppose we could set up security cameras to watch the TSA now could we?
DING DING DING! Yahtzee!
As are all government bureaucratic jobs.
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