LINTHICUM, Md. (AP) — A Virginia man was arrested this month while carrying a concealed handgun and 30 rounds of ammunition at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, the federal Transportation Security Administration has disclosed.
Police did not announce the Aug. 1 arrest at the time, but the TSA posted an account on its Web site to highlight the success of its technique for screening passengers by closely observing their behavior.
According to the TSA, the man was “exhibiting suspicious behaviors” consistent with the actions of a terrorist before an attack. But Cpl. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority police, said there were no indications that the suspect was involved in terrorism or was “feeling out” security at the airport.
Court records identify the man as Thomas J. Sackie, 45, of Falls Church. He was charged with having a handgun on his person without a permit and taken to Anne Arundel County District Court. He was released without bail.
Cpl. Green said the agency did not issue a press release at the time because it did not think the incident was a major arrest. He described the man as someone who “made a bad decision and got caught.”
The man told officers he intended to get a permit for the gun but hadn’t gotten around to it, Cpl. Green said.
The TSA said an officer observed a man acting suspiciously as he stood at a ticket counter. The officer, who had been trained through the agency’s Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, program, notified police, who determined that the man was carrying a 9 mm Glock and ammunition without a permit.
One listed address for Thomas J. Sackie was the same as that of Oakley Network Systems in Falls Church. According to public records, Tom Sackie is senior vice president of that firm.
Oakley is a data security and investigative company that specializes in protecting clients against “internal threats,” according to its Web site. Mr. Sackie did not return messages left at Oakley’s office.
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