Alleged iPad-Swiping TSA Agent at DFW Airport Arrested

While some TSA employees at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport let lawyers with loaded guns walk through security, agent Clayton Keith Dovel allegedly had his mind on something else -- swiping iPads.

Dovel was arrested earlier this week after on suspicion of stealing numerous iPads from passenger’s luggage at DFW’s Terminal E.

But I’m having a little bit of a hard time decided who is stupider in this case -- Dovel or the people who thought placing their iPads in checked luggage would be OK.

Dovel apparently lifted the iPads from his position where he screened passenger’s checked luggage by hand. (Yes, the same “Resolution Room” where a screener at another airport slipped in a note to a passenger after finding a “personal” item.)

At least one of the theft victims was smart, and apparently using the downloaded in Find My iPhone app (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/find-my-iphone/id376101648?mt=8) tracked her stolen iPad right down to Dovel’s house. Police found at least seven iPads at Dovel’s residence.

TSA, for its part, is placing Dovel on leave until officials can sort out the situation.

So two lessons: don’t check your iPad, and download Find My iPhone for your Apple products right now. It’s probably one of the most useful apps out there, and even helps catch the occasional dumb criminal.

Posted by Brent Dirks on Feb 01, 2012