Band of thieves arrested at CT. airport http://www.privateofficer.com

WINDSOR LOCKS CT Mar 3 2009
courant.com – Cameras. Laptop computers. Flat-screen televisions. Cellphones. Jewelry. Even 5-foot-tall African masks.

Nothing was off-limits for what state police say was a band of thieving baggage handlers at Bradley International Airport, all of whom had passed security screening by federal officials.

Troopers arrested 11 people over the weekend and said they have arrest warrants for several others. Two of those arrested worked for Delta Air Lines, and eight worked for a Delta subsidiary, Delta Global Services, which handled ground crew duties for Delta flights.

In statements to police, some of those arrested said that the thefts had taken place at least since 2006.
According to arrest warrant affidavits, the thieves would rifle passengers’ bags as they unloaded them from the cargo holds of Delta aircraft.

They would shove cameras and laptops into their pants, then hide the items above the ceiling in their locker room.The thieves worked in pairs. “One would continue to unload luggage from the plane by putting it on the belt loader,” one suspect wrote in a confession to state police. “The other person would go through the luggage, and whatever they found that they liked they would keep.”Late-arriving jetliners, which would stay at the airport overnight, were favored targets, the man told police.

“They would do this mainly on the overnight flights in order to keep the items inside the plane and go to get them later, or place the stolen item inside their pants to get it off the plane without being detected.”The group did not limit itself to passenger items.

A pilot’s computer was stolen, and on another occasion, five, 32-inch Samsung LCD-HDTVs were taken from a flight that arrived from Atlanta.

Forty-five thefts were reported by Delta customers from January to September 2008, when a state police task force began an investigation. AT&T reported the theft of the televisions in February 2008.

State police Lt. J. Paul Vance said that the size of the theft conspiracy at Bradley was unprecedented. “This is a first in Connecticut,” Vance said.The airport workers arrested so far had all cleared background checks, said Jeffrey Schultes, Bradley’s administrator.

Even when background checks are done properly — as the federal Transportation Security Administration believes they were in this case — they don’t always predict future behavior, said Ann Davis, an agency spokeswoman based in Boston.

“It’s a background check,” she said. “We don’t have crystal balls. We don’t know what kinds of decisions these individuals are going to make in the future.”Susan Elliott, a Delta spokeswoman, said that the airline cooperated with police. “We take situations like this very seriously, and we moved very quickly to get to the bottom of this,” she said, adding that all those allegedly involved in the thefts have been fired.

Arrested were: Angel Rodriguez, 27, a Delta Global Services supervisor from Westfield, Mass.; Gabriel Serrano, 20, a Delta Global employee from Springfield; Marc Italia, 49, a Delta Global employee from Middletown; Trevor Brown, 38, a Delta Air Lines employee from Hartford; Lamar Campbell, 23, a Delta Global Services employee from Hartford; Jervis Weaver, 28, a Delta Global employee from Hartford; Nelson Torres, 33, a Delta Global employee from Hartford; Liza Ramirez, 22, a Delta Air Lines employee from East Windsor; Corey Roy, 26, a Delta Global employee from Manchester; and Marcus A. Austin-Casares, 25, a Delta Global employee from East Windsor.

The charges, which vary by individual, include larceny, burglary, conspiracy and other offenses.Ismael Amarao, 43, a Hartford man who is a relative of one of those arrested, was charged with tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution and destruction of evidence.Rodriguez, the supervisor, confessed to police that he participated in the theft of the five televisions, which were hidden for several weeks in the Delta Cargo facility at Bradley. Rodriguez also admitted to police that he took payoffs from his subordinates, then let them leave before their shifts had ended. He said that he needed the money to pay child support.Austin-Casares told police that the thefts began in May 2006, when Delta Global Services took over Delta’s ramp operations at Bradley, replacing Aramark, another contractor. Delta Global Services reduced wages, angering employees.

“Employees began to steal,” Austin-Casares told police.As troopers gathered information about who allegedly stole what, they served search warrants and recovered many of the stolen items, including the African masks.

Vance said that, in many cases, troopers have been able to match the recovered items to their owners.

People who think they might have had something stolen may contact Delta or state police at the airport at 860-292-7400 .

Elliott, the Delta spokeswoman, said that those who don’t have stolen merchandise returned may file a claim.Tracking luggage theft is difficult.

Airports, including Bradley, generally don’t receive or process complaints. Travelers typically direct complaints to individual airlines or to the federal Transportation Security Administration, airport officials said.A TSA spokeswoman on Monday could not provide current figures for complaints at Bradley or for U.S. airports overall.

All airport employees working in secure areas are screened in advance by the airport, the FBI and TSA, which is part of the Homeland Security Department.

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