A Transportation Security Administration screener has been charged with unlawfully imprisoning and sexually abusing a college student in a bathroom after she stepped off a flight at New York's LaGuardia Airport, authorities said Friday.
Maxie Oquendo, 40, a Manhattan resident, allegedly approached the 21-year-old female on Tuesday in an area where passengers do not need to be screened, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement. Her flight from Salt Lake City had just landed.
"Hey, ma'am, I need to scan your body and your luggage," the screener allegedly told the passenger, according to the statement.
Oquendo then allegedly motioned for the woman to follow him to a bathroom, the statement said. When she asked that a female TSA employee screen her, the officer ordered her to face a mirror and raise her arms.
The statement said Oquendo allegedly "had her lift up her shirt and unzip her pants and touched her breasts and other areas of her body over and under her clothing."
After telling the passenger he was not checking her luggage, Oquendo allegedly said into his cell phone, "She's clear. She doesn't have any weapons or knives," according to the statement.
