TSA Agent Arrested For Stealing Cash From Wheelchair-Bound Passenger

We're sure you're every bit as tired of reading these kinds of stories as we are of writing them, but they do seem to keep popping up on our radar screen. A TSA agent has been arrested and charged with stealing almost $500 cash from a passenger in a wheelchair who was clearing a security checkpoint at Newark Airport in February.

Leroy Ray has been charged with dipping into the woman's purse as it went through the X-ray machine. WNBC-TV reports that the criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York says he was observed on a surveillance tape on February 3 of this year taking an envelope of cash. Money was also missing from a zippered pocket of the handbag. When the woman, who reportedly is about 50, noticed the missing money, she returned to the checkpoint. Ray then allegedly quickly left the area, leaving his post unattended. Federal officials say he took the money to the airport's Lost and Found office.

The screener has been removed from his post, and in a statement to the station, TSA said it will "move swiftly and decisively to end the federal career of any employee" who breaks the law while on the job. TSA says 23 security screeners have been fired for theft from carry-on or checked baggage since 2007.

Ray's lawyer, who claims to be a long time acquaintance, told the station that the charges seem to be "out of character for him." He was released on $1,000 bond.

FMI: www.tsa.gov