Cops: JFK Baggage Handler Swiped $300K, Called in Sick

A Delta Air Lines baggage handler at New York City's JFK Airport who allegedly swiped around $300,000 from a cash shipment Tuesday became a suspect after he called in sick, law enforcement sources say. Quincy Thorpe, 40, was arrested at his Brooklyn home Thursday morning, ABC7 reports. Sources tell the New York Daily News that suspicion fell on Thorpe after he called in sick for the two days after the theft. Authorities say one of eight bags of cash from an armored car company that were being flown to Florida was stolen, but the theft wasn't discovered until after the flight landed in Miami. Thorpe was released on $80,000 bond after a court appearance Thursday afternoon.

Federal authorities questioned the flight crew before determining that the cash, which has not been recovered, was stolen in New York. Officials say Thorpe admitted to FBI agents that he had been responsible for loading the bags on the plane. Sources tell the New York Post that the unrecovered cash is a mix of US and foreign currency that came from a cruise ship. Thorpe's lawyer, Lonnie Hart, says he has doubts about the video evidence authorities say they have, and he wonders "how this money would actually be taken out of the airport if there’s surveillance cameras all around." "They searched his home, they searched his car—they didn't find anything," he says. Hart says he can prove that his client was diagnosed with an illness on the day he called in sick. (More Delta Air Lines stories.)