ORLANDO, Fla. – A 22-year-old TSA agent was arrested Thursday after being accused of stealing money from a passenger at Orlando International Airport, police said.
Alexander Shae Johnson, of Huntington, West Virginia, was arrested on grand theft charges.
According to police, a woman was at a TSA checkpoint at OIA and required additional screening. A TSA agent conducted a pat down, and the woman told the agent that she could not see her bags.
The agent moved the woman closer to her bags, but she complained again that her luggage was out of her sight, police said.
After the pat down, the woman retrieved her bags and discovered her money was missing, police said.
The passenger said she noticed a bulge in the shirt pocket of another TSA agent, identified as Johnson, and asked him if that was his money, police said. Johnson said he got the money from the bank, according to police.
The first agent retrieved the money from Johnson and notified a supervisor, police said.
Surveillance video showed Johnson reaching inside a bag, removing money and placing it in his shirt pocket, police said.
Johnson was arrested and taken to jail.
The money was returned to the passenger.
TSA officials issued this statement Friday condemning the actions:
“TSA has a zero tolerance for misconduct in the workplace. The TSA immediately reported the allegation to OPD and we aggressively investigated the incident with our law enforcement partner. TSA officers represent a professional and honorable workforce that is trained to treat passengers and their personal belongings with care and respect. No exceptions will be tolerated. We immediately ended the federal career of this individual.”