DFW baggage handler arrested for stealing from passengers www.privateofficer.com
DALLAS TX Aug 31 2011 – DFW Airport police have arrested and charged an American Eagle worker for stealing from passengers and lying on the application for his security badge.
Jose Alberto Peralta, 45 of the Dominican Republic, was arrested Friday. He’s suspected of stealing and pawning almost 100 pieces of jewelry and sunglasses worth more than $10,000 from passengers’ luggage over the past year.
According to reports, a fellow American Eagle employee tipped police off because Peralta had worked on numerous flights where items were reported stolen or lost. That employee also reportedly saw him taking items out of bags.
Officers confronted Peralta at work and found two silver bracelets, a pair of silver earrings, a gold heart-shaped diamond necklace and Oakley sunglasses at the bottom of his backpack.
At first, Peralta said the items were his and that he carried them in from the Dominican Republic because gold prices are higher here. Then, he admitted he took the necklace from an aircraft but said he planned to return it, the report states.
Peralta was also charged with tampering with a government record because he wrote in two different birth dates on a renewal application for a security badge. The report states he explained it away as a mistake made years ago that never got corrected.
The airline would not comment citing the criminal investigation.
Source:www.myfoxdfw.com
