United Airlines worker Joseph A. Bruno |
Here’s something that will make you think twice before you empty your pockets at airport security.
A United Airlines staff at Newark
Liberty International Airport stole $576 in cash from a passenger’s
wallet at a security check point, police said.
A 57-year-old West Caldwell man had just
gone through screening in Terminal C before a flight, when he told Port
Authority Police that he had placed his wallet, with the cash inside,
in a tray to be X-rayed, only to find cash gone when he picked the
wallet back out of the tray
Officers arrested the United employee,
Joseph A. Bruno, 52, of Ridgefield, after reviewing surveillance video
of the checkpoint, and spotting Bruno, dressed in his blue and yellow
United work jacket, taking the money.
Screening at checkpoints is conducted by
Transportation Security Administration officers, not airline employees.
But like passengers, airline employees and other workers must be
screened before entering secure areas of the airport.
The victim’s cash was returned and he continued on his trip.
United said it is working with authorities to investigate the incident.
“We hold our employees to the highest standards, and have zero tolerance for any theft,” a United spokesperson told Mashable
in an email. “We are assisting the Port Authority Police Department in
this investigation, and this employee has been held out of service.