Option 1: TSA agents steal things from your bags.
Option 2: TSA agents steal things that you forget at the checkpoint.
Both options suck, but option 2 doesn't suck quite as much. That's all I'm saying. I'm not defending the guy. It's just that the headline made me think #1 was the case, but it turned out to be #2, and #2 isn't quite as bad as #1. Of course, both are inexcusable, illegal, and wrong.
$800,000!!!
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/convicted-tsa-officer-reveals-...
This was so ridiculously easy that the only way that he got caught is that he got VERY lazy, and didn't remove the CNN stickers from a camera he stole from a CNN producer's luggage.
Others that worked with him seemed to know about it — one co-worker even warned him, "They were talking about you in the office. Be careful." But no one did anything.
Absurd.
This isn't a thing where the TSA guy saw a pack of tissues left on a bench and pocketed them for himself.
This is a thing where travelers are forced to separate even from valuable items under stress from travel, family and time constraints. So the default assumption when you come across an expensive item like an iPad is "this must belong to someone." You know they're coming back for it, either in person or by phone.