Crime & Safety
Bail Denied for JetBlue Flight Attendant Who Fled LAX
Marsha Gay Reynolds was initially granted $500,000 bail during a hearing in a New York court last month, but a L.A. judge overturned it.
LOS ANGELES, CA - A JetBlue Airways flight attendant who allegedly tried to smuggle nearly 60 pounds of cocaine in her carry-on luggage and fled when Los Angeles International Airport security officials pulled her aside for a random baggage search has been ordered jailed without bail pending trial.
Marsha Gay Reynolds, 31, who allegedly kicked off her Gucci high heels as she ran from the airport March, was initially granted $500,000 bail during a hearing in a New York court last month, but a Los Angeles judge overturned the decision.
She now faces a post-indictment arraignment in Los Angeles federal court on April 22.
Find out what's happening in Manhattan Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A former beauty pageant contestant in her native Jamaica, Reynolds has been a New York-based JetBlue employee for six years. Her lawyer said she is also a full-time nursing student.
She surrendered to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in New York on March 23, the same day she was charged in Los Angeles with possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Find out what's happening in Manhattan Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The drug discovery was made March 18 in Terminal Four by a Transportation Security Administration security officer who was screening the airline attendant's carry-on bags as part of a random search, according to an FBI affidavit.
As the TSA officer led Reynolds to a location to be searched, she made a cellphone call -- speaking in what sounded like a foreign language -- then kicked off her shoes and ran from the terminal down the up escalator, the affidavit said.
The agent didn't pursue because his primary concern was the bags Reynolds was carrying and airport police who conducted a search for Reynolds couldn't find her, authorities said.
Reynolds' abandoned luggage was found to contain 11 individually wrapped packages -- labeled "Big Ranch" -- that were taken to the Los Angeles police's Forensic Science Division, where the contents tested positive for cocaine.
In the wake of the foiled drug-smuggling attempt, Los Angeles Airport Police Officers Association President Marshall McClain called for 100 percent screening of all passengers and employees at LAX.
--City News Service, photo courtesy of Los Angeles Airport Police
