Stolen Wedding Ring Returned To Passenger At Newark Airport, Feds Say

NEWARK, NJ — Airport screeners and police recently teamed up to return a stolen wedding ring to a passenger at Newark Liberty International Airport.

According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the “passenger-on-passenger” theft took place on Sunday near a checkpoint in Terminal C.

Here’s how it happened, authorities said:

“A traveler who was passing through a TSA security checkpoint approached a TSA supervisory officer to report that a ring that the passenger had placed in a checkpoint bin was missing. The supervisor reviewed the CCTV video of the traveler’s checkpoint screening experience and spotted another passenger take the ring. TSA officials notified the Port Authority Police Department, which responded to the checkpoint, reviewed the video to get a good look at the thief and headed in the direction that he took when he departed the checkpoint. A short time later, police returned to the checkpoint with the ring after they tracked down the thief at his departure gate and arrested him as he was waiting to board his flight.”

The surveillance video was “sharp,” with a clear image of what the thief looked like, according to Thomas Carter, the TSA federal security director for New Jersey.

“The police understood the urgency in tracking down the man before he was able to fly off,” Carter said.

Authorities didn’t identify the suspect in an initial statement.

Carter pointed out that TSA staffers “are not law enforcement officers,” and that they rely on Port Authority police to help keep the airport safe. More often than not, that involves weapons detections, unruly passengers, medical issues that require emergency services and responding to reports of “suspicious” items.

“We work with the Port Authority Police Department every day – from curb to gate – to help ensure that travelers get to their destinations safely,” Carter said. “On Sunday, that meant working together to catch a thief and return a stolen wedding ring.”

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