Spirit Airlines pays off victim after Apple Watch proves her luggage was stolen
A woman in Fort Lauderdale believed her Spirit Airlines luggage was lost forever, until her Apple Watch notified her that the MacBook Pro in it was now in a nearby house.
An Apple Watch Find My alert like this one led Garcia to her stolen luggage
Usually it's an AirTag that alerts travellers to lost and stolen luggage, and it's possible that's what happened here, too. What's sure is that Spirit Airlines has joined the ranks of aviation firms lying about lost luggage.
According to Florida's Local10 News, traveller Paola Garcia originally waited for two hours at Carousel 4 inside Terminal 4 at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Ordinarily, she says, she carries on her pink hard-shell suitcase, but this time had been ordered to check it -- and then it vanished.
It's not clear when this happened, nor is it fully known what the case contained. However, it certainly had a MacBook Pro, an iPad, jewelry, designer clothes and for some reason two Apple Watches.
While Spirit Airlines employees insisted the luggage would be sent directly to her house, the next day she got an alert on a third Apple Watch. It was most likely a Find My alert, saying that her MacBook Pro or iPad had been left behind, and were last seen at a particular address.
That address was a residence near Garcia, and she decided to go to it.
"Yes," she told Local 10, "because I said how can Spirit deliver my suitcase there? [And] because I needed my computer... I have test that day."
Arriving at the house, she saw suitcases littered around it, so she called the police. "The first thing the police told me was like, 'What are you doing here? This is so dangerous for you to be here."
Security footage of Bazile with Garcia's pink suitcase (Source: via Local 10 News, Florida)
An investigation by a Broward Sheriff's Office detective determined that 29-year-old Junior Bazile who lived there, worked at the airport and was on shift when the incident happened. Security camera footage at the airport showed Bazile going through Garcia's suitcase and removing items.
It's unclear from the report just what the sequence of events was between Garcia's alert and Bazile being arrested. However, by the time he was taken into custody, he had reportedly disposed of most of her items.
Bazile has been charged with grand theft. Spirit Airlines later made a statement saying that it has refunded Garcia for the items, but also denied any responsibility.
"We issued a reimbursement check to the guest as a courtesy, even though we are not currently aware of any evidence that any Spirit employee was involved," said an airline spokesperson. "We take any allegation of this nature seriously, and we are investigating."
Garcia says she does not believe that Bazile acted alone.
"Personally, I don't think it's one person working in the airport, I think it's a group," she said. "One person can't just do that, take bags."
Separately, Florida was also recently the scene of a crash in which a cyclist was hit by a car whose driver then fled the scene. But one of the cyclist's AirPods had been knocked off into the SUV, and again it was Apple's Find My that led authorities to an arrest.
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Comments
No way Spirit Airlines is going to shell out money without being "aware" that they were responsible. The work schedule, footage, and geotagging are substantial evidence.
Baggage handlers and porters are the 'weakest link' in TSA's perimeter. Absent a thorough background check - which obviously didn't happen in this case, unless this was young Bazile's first rodeo - there's no real back-of-house security that will prevent another terrorist disaster.
If anyone wants to argue this point, I'd be happy to be told I'm wrong. I fly frequently, and this is a constant worry of mine.
I had access to Find My on the devices so I could track it that way but I also put AirTags in the bag to track it.
Some tips if you are in this situation --
-- tell the gate agent that you have lithium batteries in your gear. Lots of them and they aren't removable (or if they are, you have many of them, like my dozen camera batteries). Lithium batteries can't go into checked luggage. Now your gear and bag are back with you.
-- tell the gate agent that you have medication in the bag (don't lie about this, they may ask to see it). Their rules won't allow them to separate you from your medications. Now your bag is back with you.
-- consolidate your tech gear into the one under-seat bag you that you are allowed. Sucks to do at the gate but one should never, ever put tech into a checked bag. As long as that bag fits under the seat you're good.
Never, ever check a bag containing your tech gear.
My guess is her bag itself was deemed not qualifying as carryon. This seems almost a whim of airlines. Friends who fly often and not always with the same airline say what is carryon on some airlines is not on others. Or that one some occasions sometimes on allowed by an airline where it previously was.
Not flying since before TSA, I don't know the rules. My carryon was once deemed too big and had to be checked. I removed a laptop in a padded case and carried that onboard, no issue. Would that be allowed today?
Spirit has some balls. There's video, they pay off, but say not currently aware? Without video they wouldn't have paid off despite any other evidence. A cautionary tale.
2) So you haven't flown since before 9/11, I take it, as the TSA was created in November 2001. That's incredible! Flying has indeed changed since then in many ways and not for the better. Besides TSA adding time and being inconsistent with procedures, airlines give you less room, uncharge you for a few inches of extra legroom in coach (which they call Premium), you get no checked bag for free in coach, and if you do only have a carry on you may be forced to leave it at the jetway so it can put into the cargo hold with the other baggage if there isn't room above you in the cabin.
https://www.transportation.gov/lost-delayed-or-damaged-baggage
https://syrairport.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Who-Does-What-In-The-Airport.pdf
But to be clear: the suspect was not a security screener, etc.; he worked at Paradies, a retail store in the airport, which - surprise! - has nothing to do with the airlines or their operations! According to the police report, he simply walked down to baggage claim, grabbed a random bag off belt 4, and took it back to the store's storage room to rummage through it.
Yes, that's the real question!