Man Slipped Past TSA, Attacked Passenger in Secured Area

Federal authorities are investigating after a man slipped past a TSA security checkpoint and assaulted a passenger.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Apr 04, 2019

Federal agents are investigating after police say a man slipped past a TSA officer at Salt Lake City International Airport and assaulted another man over the weekend.

On Saturday, a man who was waiting for his flight was struck in the head by something and “immediately went black,” according to local news station WTOC.

“I thought something had fallen from the ceiling or a piece of equipment had hit me,” the victim said, but the blows just kept coming. Witnesses say the victim was struck five times to the head, leaving him unconscious and bloody, while the attacker took the victim’s cell phone and walked about 50 feet down the hallway.

The suspect was shorty placed in handcuffs and the victim taken to the hospital.

It was after the suspect was in custody that police learned he was never supposed to make it through security. The suspect did have boarding passes on him, but none of them donned his name and there was no reservation for the man on any airline.

Police say the suspect simply just walked past the TSA agent verifying boarding passes and identification and made his way through security screening without setting off any alarm.

Witnesses told police they saw the man trying to board a flight shortly before the attack.

TSA has since released a statement about the incident:

“TSA’s travel document verification procedures were not properly followed at Salt Lake City International Airport on Saturday, March 30. As a result, an individual who was not ticketed for travel gained access to the sterile area of the airport. The individual and his belongings were screened through the security checkpoint with no alarms. TSA will cooperate with law enforcement in its ongoing investigation.”