TSA agent charged in theft of $450 pen at checkpoint screening

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A Transportation Security Administration agent has lost his job and is facing grand theft charges for allegedly pocketing a $450 pen owned by prominent South Florida car dealership owner Rick Case.

Officials filed charges against Toussain Puddie, 30, on Wednesday after investigators say the agent admitted to taking Case's pen during a checkpoint screening at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last month.

According to a lost property report, Case's daughter, Raquel, called the Broward Sheriff's Office on June 6 after her father remembered leaving his white and black Montblanc pen inside a tray provided at the checkpoint. Case, who was selected to undergo extra security screening, was traveling with his wife and a pet.

It wasn't until Case boarded his Frontier Airlines flight that he noticed his pen was missing, according to the report. A Broward Sheriff's deputy was sent to look for the pen but couldn't find it after searching through lost and found logs and reviewing TSA surveillance video.

Sherriff spokesman Jim Leljedal said an investigation led them to Puddie, who was arrested at the airport terminal on June 22.

"Finders keepers doesn't apply when you are a public servant and have the public's trust," Leljedal said.

In a written statement the TSA said the agency, "has a zero tolerance for theft. The actions of this former employee in no way reflect the dedication and professionalism of our workforce as a whole."

Puddie, who had been a TSA agent for two years, declined to comment on Friday, and Case could not be reached.