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1000 pieces of luggage stolen at Sky Harbour

 

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Creepy looking

 

 

Police arrested two people Monday on suspicion of stealing at least 1,000 pieces of luggage from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

 

Two people suspected of stealing up to 1000 pieces of luggage from baggage carousels at a US airport have been arrested by police who found piles of the stolen bags strewn throughout their home.

 

There were so many suitcases in the house of Keith Wilson King and Stacy Lynne Legg-King that Phoenix police could give only a rough estimate of their number as they pulled them out one by one and gathered them in the yard.

 

"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. "This is a livelihood. There's a lot of luggage and there's a lot of victims."

 

 

Accused ... Stacy Lynne Legg-King and Keith Wilson King. Photo: AP

 

King, 61, and Legg-King, 38, were each booked into jail on charges of theft of property and possession of stolen property. Legg-King was also arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence. It was not clear how the two are related.

 

Both denied requests to be interviewed, and it was unclear whether they had attorneys.

 

Detective Holmes said investigators did not know how long the thefts had been taking place, or whether more people were involved. All the luggage tags that would help identify the bags' owners were removed, he said.

 

Police first arrested King on a theft charge about three weeks ago when an officer saw him park at Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport, take a piece of luggage from one of the baggage carousels and get back into his car. He was released and police began conducting surveillance on him.

 

Detective Holmes said police followed King to the airport on Monday and watched him take a piece of luggage that wasn't his and return to his home with it. They found the hundreds of other bags after searching the house on Tuesday.

 

The home was in complete disarray, Detective Holmes said, with the luggage, clothing and other items including garbage scattered about.

 

"The amount of luggage being stored inside of the residence was almost surreal," Officer Kendall Goo wrote in a court document.

 

Deborah Ostreicher, a spokeswoman for the Phoenix airport, said airlines stopped checking passengers' baggage claim tickets there during the past 10 years as a cost-cutting measure.

 

She said airport officials and airlines were working together to assess security at the airport and were talking about checking passengers' bag tags again.

 

"We're evaluating a lot of different possibilities," she said.

 

Meanwhile, she said passengers should avoid putting critical medication or expensive items in checked luggage, should clearly mark their bags and pick them up as soon as possible after landing.

 

 

Neighbors reported seeing a trailer full of material arriving to the home in the middle of the night, which they described as suspicious.

 

People who believe they may be victims in the luggage thefts are asked to call 602-262-6151.