Phoenix police have arrested and charged a man with burglary after he allegedly stole several pieces of luggage from carousels at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Technology was on the police’s side on Sunday night when Phoenix PD were called regarding luggage thefts in Terminal 4, involving multiple Southwest Airlines customers.
After reviewing the surveillance video, officers were able to identify the same man that took six pieces of luggage in a time span from Thursday to Sunday. Four of the thefts occurred on Friday.
Early Monday morning, Southwest Airlines contacted police again with another stolen bag report. In this case it involved an active-duty Army soldier who had reported his backpack stolen around 2 a.m. He told police that he was able to track his bag to Terminal 3 because he had a set of keys in the bag that had an air tag on the ring.
Quick action from the officers took the investigation to Terminal 3 where officers spotted a man matching the same description in the surveillance videos. Police made contact with 57-year-old Kenneth Allen Curtis who was sitting in a waiting area just outside of Terminal 3. Court reports detail that Curtis had in his possession the soldier’s camouflage oversized backpack. Officers also found an airline bag tag with the victim’s name in the suspect’s pocket.
Police believe there to be seven known victims. It is uncertain if the other victims were able to reclaim their luggage and personal belongings. Curtis who has a felony warrant for parole violation in Texas, was booked into the Maricopa County jail on six counts of burglary.