...This is a toss-up for the Passenger Stupidity Award of the Year.....This (thief) lady, or our own ATL 'Wrong-Way' Lasseter! Bryant Petitt Cumming, GA --- David Mueller <kawika42@mac.com> wrote: > Police ponder charges in airport grenade incident > > December 18, 2001 Posted: 10:33 AM EST (1533 GMT) > > SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Police said Monday > they have not decided > whether to charge a New York woman in a case that > temporarily shut down San > Diego International Airport and neighboring streets > Sunday afternoon. > > American Airlines Flight 788 bound for Chicago had > pulled away from the > terminal and was preparing to take off from San > Diego International Airport > when 57-year-old Lolita Austria of Rochester pulled > a blue sweatshirt from a > bag in an overhead bin and watched as what appeared > to be a grenade fell to > the floor and rolled down the aisle, police said. > > A bomb squad and a bomb-sniffing dog went through > the plane and quickly > determined that the grenade was an FAA-approved > dummy used to test the > vigilance of screeners at security checkpoints, said > Lt. John Forsythe of > the San Diego Harbor Police. > > It had been taken -- in a bag containing the > sweatshirt -- from a security > checkpoint near the X-ray machine, said Marty > Heires, a spokesman for > American. > > "The woman was passing by and liked it and grabbed > it," he said. "It > apparently caught her eye." > > The screeners -- employed by Huntleigh Security -- > had passed the test by > identifying the object as it passed through the > machine, Forsythe said. > > The sweatshirt and phony grenade were then placed in > a bag and left near the > screening machine, Forsythe said. > > "Right afterwards, this woman who picked it up came > through," he said. > > The airport was temporarily closed and nearby > streets were evacuated. > Austria and her sister were led away in handcuffs. > > Asked if Austria stole the bag, he said, "We believe > so." > > A final police report will be forwarded Tuesday to > the city attorney, who > will decide whether to prosecute. > > She could be charged with petty theft, Forsythe > said. The Federal Aviation > Administration could also assess a civil fine. > > The MD-80, carrying 108 passengers and five crew > members, was delayed three > hours while passengers were rescreened. > > After being questioned by police and the FBI, > Austria and her sister were > allowed to leave later in the evening pending > possible charges, Forsythe > said. > > Though the entire airport was closed for a short > period of time, only two > flights were delayed, he said. > > -- > David Mueller / HNL > kawika42@mac.com > http://www.quanterium.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com