Fake TSA Screener Probes Women, Until San Francisco International Airport Security Wises Up
A fake TSA screener has been discovered at the San Francisco International Airport patting down and allegedly groping women as they headed to their flights. For a while, nobody knew anything was wrong.
TSA agents have had an important job for decades now, attempting to stop possible terrorists from entering airports. They usually do this by having the potential passengers go through a metal detector while their personal affects pass through a scanner. If anything seems unusual, the agents often take the extra step of patting them down to see if they’re carrying any kind of weapons on their person. Sometimes, the agents take them into private booths for questioning if their behavior seems wrong.
One man was giving women a pat-down as they went through the usual system in San Francisco, except he took them into a private booth and allegedly groped them. Sergeant Wesley Matsuura of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office says the 53-year-old fake TSA screener was arrested for drunken conduct after real security officers discovered what was happening in the A-side security checkpoint just after noon. His name has not been disclosed.
Nobody knew anything was amiss as the man had been wearing khakis, a blue polo shirt, and blue rubber gloves. He looked like the real thing, but his methods didn’t follow protocol. Airport security firm Covenant noticed the man after at least two victims subjected to his pat-downs had already flown off. Male screeners are prohibited from performing pat-downs on female passengers, and this alerted them.
Apparently it may have taken a few hours to catch the man, since there is usually at least an hour recommended between arrival and departure.
Authorities are looking into whether to press charges beyond public drunkenness, since he didn’t do anything more than allegedly grope the women he victimized. The fake TSA screener could also be charged with false imprisonment for his use of the private booth, inside which it is unknown exactly what happened.
Man posing as TSA screener directs pat-downs at San Francisco International Airport http://t.co/48zowzbDTX
— Weekly Arkansas (@WeeklyArkansas) July 17, 2014
If the women victimized can be tracked down and questioned, the man could face more serious charges.
The incident is undoubtedly creating quite a stir among security personnel, because they didn’t realize what was going on immediately. One question already raised is how the man was able to impersonate a screener before the real agents noticed. Could anyone with khaki pants, a blue polo shirt, and rubber gloves simply walk into an airport and grope passengers at their leisure?
Investigations over the fake TSA screener will remain active for a week, and actual agents have been unavailable for comment.
[image via wikipedia]
