WHAT HEELS: Couple Lifted Luggage: Cops
Sky Harbor International Airport is the “Bermuda Triangle” when it comes to suitcases – in fact, of all the airports in the U.S., it’s in the top 10 for lost luggage. Here’s a reason why: Keith Wilson King, 61, and Stacy Lynne Legg-King, 38, of Waddell, AZ, allegedly stole something like 1,000 pieces of luggage from carousels at the Phoenix airport. The Associated Press reports:
There were so many suitcases that Phoenix police could only give a rough estimate of their number Tuesday as they pulled them out one by one and gathered them in the yard of suburban residence.
"A piece of luggage here, a piece of luggage there, I would imagine gets stolen out of airports all the time," Phoenix police Detective James Holmes said Tuesday. "This is a livelihood. There's a lot of luggage and there's a lot of victims."
King, 61, and Legg-King, 38, were arrested Monday, and each was booked into jail on charges of theft of property and possession of stolen property. Legg-King also was arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence. It was not immediately clear how the two are related. …
Holmes said investigators do not know how long the thefts have been happening, or whether more people were involved. All the luggage tags that would help identify the bags' owners were removed, he said.
And that’s just what police found in the home. Neighbors say that the couple often sold luggage and othergoods at yard sales
In a cost-cutting move, airlines stopped checking passengers' baggage claim tickets years ago, but in the aftermath of the police investigation airport officials have beefed up video surveillance, as well as and police and security patrols, in the baggage claim area and airline staff will be conducting random checks to ensure that baggage identification matches a passenger’s claim check or photo ID.
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