Queens, NY – A Jet Blue baggage handler at Kennedy airport reportedly admitted stealing an NYPD sergeant’s gun from her luggage and then throwing it away in a Queens sewer when he came under suspicion.
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Port Authority police arrested 21-year-old Tamarcus Hines of Rosedale after he allegedly confessed to stealing the sergeant’s .9mm handgun, which had been packed in a locked gun box inside her suitcase and lawfully checked in for her flight to Orlando, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Hines, who has worked for Jet Blue for a year, is charged with taking the sergeant’s gun, holster and ammunition, which were all recovered from the sewer after he reportedly confessed, Brown said.
“It is upsetting that a passenger who buys an airline ticket and lawfully checks her luggage – in this case a secured, legally possessed handgun – has been subjected to having her belongings stolen,” Brown said.
“This case is, however, especially egregious in that the defendant is alleged to have brazenly stolen a 9mm handgun that had been properly secured by its owner, a sergeant with the New York City Police Department.”
Hines was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal mischief and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
JetBlue is at it again! Wasn’t there a post and comment the other week on this site that mentioned JetBlue stinks and is only getting worse?
I will reiterate what others have been saying for the last two years. JetBlue stinks, their prices are high and their service is horrible. JetBlue never leaves on time or comes in on time to many airports around the country.
JetBlue always has the same stupid lying excuse as if passangers are dumb. The excuse that JetBle always gives customers is they are having problems with the plane and need to get it fixed! Who can argue when it comes to safety? The problems is they give safety excuses as the lies so nobody can say anything.
JetBlue employees steal luggae all the time and the only reason why this punk employee got caught was there was a gin involved and a police officers gun! If your going to steal the punk should have been smarter and said to himself don’t steal and don’t steal from a police officer because YOU WILL GET CAUGHT!
I hope this punk gets 15 years behind bars.
One last thing. if anyoneone from JetBlue reads this comment you should know this is what you get for hiring people at 10.00 an hour! Hire people at starting rates of 20.00 an hour and you will attract better people.
Do me a favor. Stop with your ranting and rechilus loshon hora. Go to school or learn a trade if you really want to earn more than $10/hour. On the issue of the perp… Who cares…he stole, he got nabbed, que sera, sera.
Beyond stupid…hope he is put away for a long long time!!
It’s not Jet Blue, it’s robbers and stealers. I once saw a TV expose on baggage handlers in a ten minute segment on one of the TV stations. They put tiny cameras up in the large rooms where the luggage movers are. They showed you guys unzipping tens of luggage pieces and quickly searching inside. This guy is the very tiny tip of a huge iceberg. There should be cameras like that in EVERY airline’s baggage rooms!
never check valuables, cameras, laptops, pda’s etc.
I would like to report that my baggage was interfered with and items taken from my baggage. My flight from W.P.B. Florida was 124 on the 23rd. June 2009. My bag was transfered to Aer Lingus EI 104 destination Dublin. Ireland.
The goods taken were: A variety of Perfumaries purchased in Perfumania in Vero Beach: Store 213 The Outlets at Vero Beach on the 12th. June 2009 and total cost was: $345.48. Also robbed was a watch and a pair of specticals (black) cost approx: $400.
It seems to me that the only oppertunity was in the transfere from Jet Blue in New York (JFK) to Aer Lingus flight EI.104 on the 23rd June 2009.
I was not insured. I have flown to and from Florida for the past 37 years and never experienced this before. You may have a compensation policy but I consider it very important to identify who handled that particular delivery to Aer Lingus as this could prevent further theft.