Thousands of airline passengers travel through the Minneapolis Airport every year, but some of those passengers might be the victim of theft.
A Minneapolis Airport worker faces numerous felony charges; accused of stealing hundreds of items from checked baggage. Now, the search is on to find their rightful owners.
23-year-old David Vang is facing eleven felony counts of theft in connection with stolen luggage items at the Minneapolis Airport. Vang was a contract worker for Delta in the baggage area.
"This guy wasn't supposed to be touching any bags. His job was to maintain the baggage belt system that carries the bags," public affairs officer Patrick Hogan said.
But police say instead Vang was carrying stolen items to his car in an unsecured employee parking lot and thefts went undetected for months.
"The challenge for the airport police for when that happened is that the bag originated with the passengers in another city and was destined for another city, so it's difficult to know when the theft occurred," Hogan said.
Police say Vang committed the crimes between July and October of last year. Stolen items include laptops, iPads, jewelry and guns worth nearly $85,000.
Airport officials say it was the guns that tipped them off.
"The guns were actually checked in here, because they weren't put in a bag with anything else. They have to be put in a case all their own. We saw they had been scanned as arriving here, but they were not scanned on departing the airport. So that really let us know something was going on here," Hogan said.
The airport installed video cameras in the area where Vang was working and caught him in the act.
Vang's wife is also facing charges. Police say she was using their vehicle to transport the stolen items back to their apartment.
Hogan says the stolen guns have all been returned to their owners because they were registered. But rest of the unclaimed items will be auctioned off or donated to charity. If you believe you're a victim you should contact the Minneapolis Police Department at (612)-726-5115.
Source- keloland