Man accused of stealing more than $10K from passengers on Argentina to Miami flight
MIAMI - A man was arrested after he reportedly stole more than $10,000 in cash from fellow passengers during an American Airlines flight from Argentina to Miami.
Diego Radio, 29, has been charged with theft of personal property valued at greater than $1,000 within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
According to the criminal complaint, Radio stole $10,022 and some pesos from one passenger. The theft was discovered when a flight attendant noted Radio acting suspiciously around the woman and asked her to check her belongings to see if anything was missing.
A passenger sitting behind the woman, who heard what was going on, also checked her belongings and found $710 in cash, some pesos, and two credit cards were gone.
When the plane landed, Border Patrol agents patted down Radio, 29, and inspected his belongings. They found $10,732 in loose currency which matched the amount of money missing by the two passengers, according to the criminal complaint.
They also reportedly found two credit cards belonging to one of the passengers in his jacket pocket.
During questioning, he admitted to stealing the money along with the credit cards and was taken into custody.