Bank Robber Caught at Checkpoint
News & Happenings
May 4, 2007
In the kind of story more likely to occur on the big screen than at a checkpoint, TSOs in Philadelphia helped apprehend a criminal suspect last week as he tried to flee the state after a multi-day robbery spree.
Passenger Michael White of Townsend, Del., entered the Terminal C checkpoint and headed for a US Airways flight to Orlando, Fla., on April 23. White, who had been flagged as a selectee, alarmed the walk-through metal detector, prompting TSO Merle Gibbons to collect White's belongings and escort him to a screening area.
While hand-wanding White, Gibbons focused on his inside right ankle and asked him if there was anything there that might cause an alarm. White said he had his crack pipe and pulled it from his sock. Gibbons immediately notified Supervisory TSO Michael Hanson, who swiftly retrieved the pipe and White's boarding pass. Within moments, airport police took White into custody.
In White's ticket jacket, an airport police officer found a note written on a folded bank deposit slip. Asking Hanson's help in deciphering the handwriting, Hanson made out that it was a hold-up note stating that the note holder had a gun.
The FBI determined that White matched surveillance photos taken during a bank robbery in Wilmington, Del., earlier that day. Within two hours of entering the checkpoint, White was arrested on four counts of robbery involving the bank and convenience stores.
"The attention to detail, quick response and professionalism that both Merle and Michael displayed in this situation are a credit to themselves, and also to this security operation," said Philadelphia FSD Bob Ellis. "They played a significant role in the discovery of an individual charged with multiple robberies, which contributes not only to the security of this airport, but to our community as well."
