Screener at Kennedy nabbed in $5G theft

A Transportation Security Administration agent has been arrested after stealing $5,000 from a passenger at a security checkpoint at Kennedy Airport, authorities said.

The incident occurred at Terminal 4 between 8:10 and 8:26 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.

Port Authority spokesman Al Della Fave said the screener, identified as Alexandra Schmid, 31, of Brooklyn, took the cash from a passenger's jacket as it moved along an X-ray conveyor belt at the security checkpoint.

Surveillance video showed Schmid taking the cash and wrapping it in a plastic glove before taking it to a terminal bathroom, Della Fave said.

The identity of the victimized passenger was not released -- other than to say he was from Bangladesh.

Della Fave said the incident was reported almost immediately and Port Authority police went straight to video surveillance footage to see what happened. He said the money has not been recovered and said police believe Schmid handed the cash to an accomplice in the bathroom.

Schmid was charged with grand larceny. Della Fave said the case remains under investigation and police are actively seeking a possible accomplice -- and investigators are looking at the possibility of additional incidents.

The suspect's attorney's name was not immediately known.