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American Airlines Flight 22 left Los Angeles yesterday at 3:20 p.m. and arrived just after midnight this morning, the Port Authority’s Joseph Pentangelo said.
“While in flight, a crew member noticed that her tote bag was missing. The pilot made an announcement over the loudspeaker for passengers to assist in searching for the apparently lost bag,” he said.
About 45 minutes before the flight landed, a passenger found the cover to an iPad that was in the crew member’s bag, Pentangelo said.
“The crew searched the immediate area and found the missing tote bag under seat # 13A,” he said. “An Ipad was missing.”
Port Authority officers and detectives were waiting and interviewed the passengers on the ground.
The victimized crew member told them she saw 26-year-old Melissa Perez put the bag under the seat. They, in turn, found the missing iPad in Perez’s carry-on bag, Pentangelo said.
Another passenger, a 29-year-old woman, said she found her US passport and a bank card missing after waking up fom a nap and finding Perez near her purse.
PAPD police brought Perez to the stationhouse, where Pentangelo said they found the passport and bank card in her underwear.
She was also carrying 10 grams of marijuana in a prescription bottle, he said.
Perez, whose criminal history includes several drug-related arrests, was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy PORT AUTHORITY PD
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