Passenger traces 'lost' luggage to airport employee's Florida home
Paola Garcia was waiting for her small pink suitcase, which contained several Apple gadgets - her personal MacBook and two Apple Watches. The suitcase was supposed to appear on the baggage carousel at Fort Lauderdale International Airport (Florida), writes New York Post.
Photo: IStock
Garcia said she always took her luggage with her into the cabin without any problems, but this time Spirit Airlines employees forced her to check her suitcase as luggage when flying out of New York.
She began to get nervous as she watched other passengers take their bags from the baggage carousel, but her suitcase was still missing.
“The thought in my head was: I need my computer because I’m going to university,” Garcia recalled.
The girl waited for two hours before she gave up hope that her luggage would appear on the conveyor belt. Spirit Airlines employees assured her not to worry: her luggage would be sent to her home.
The next day, Paola Garcia began receiving pings from one of her Apple Watches, but the signal was not coming from the airport itself, but from her home, located 15 minutes from the Fort Lauderdale airport.
It was the home of Junior Basil, who worked at the Paradies Shops retail store at Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Deciding to return her luggage, she went to the house from which the signal came, found her things there and immediately called the police.
According to the girl, the first thing the police asked was why she was in that house.
"The police said to me, 'What are you doing here?' This is very dangerous for you,” Garcia recalls.
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The Broward County Sheriff's Office learned that Basil, 29, was an airport employee working the day Garcia's belongings went missing. Unfortunately, by the time the police arrived, the alleged thief had already gotten rid of some of the things.
An investigation was launched and police found CCTV footage of Basil rummaging through Garcia's suitcase in the back of the store where he worked. Basil was arrested and charged with grand theft (under Florida law, grand theft is considered grand theft if the value of the stolen item exceeds $750). If convicted, he could face 5 to 30 years in prison and fines ranging from $5 to $000.
However, Garcia suggests that Basil may be part of a gang of thieves operating at the airport.
“In my opinion, this is not one person working at the airport. It seems to me that this is a group,” she suggested. “One person can’t just go and steal luggage.”
Law enforcement officials have not yet figured out how Basil managed to do this.
After it was confirmed that Garcia's luggage was stolen, Spirit Airlines said the girl was reimbursed as a "gesture of goodwill."
“We have issued a compensation check to the passenger, although we have no evidence that a Spirit employee was involved,” an airline spokesperson said. “We take any such allegations seriously and are investigating.”
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This is not the first time a Florida airport employee has been caught red-handed stealing from passengers. In June 2023, security footage captured two TSA officers removing money (at least $600 in cash) and other items from the luggage of unsuspecting passengers at Miami International Airport. The attackers worked in the baggage drop-off area and gutted bags on their way to the X-ray machine. At this time, the passengers were undergoing a personal search and did not pay attention to their belongings.
The exact time of the incident with the theft of Paola Garcia's suitcase remains unknown, but it is significant that the girl found the house of the alleged attacker before the local police.
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