LOS ANGELES, Mar 24: A JetBlue flight attendant who authorities said left behind 32 kilogrammes of cocaine worth up to USD three million after flinging off her heels and running from security at Los Angeles International Airport has been arrested in New York.
Marsha Gay Reynolds surrendered to federal authorities at John F Kennedy International Airport, though it was not immediately clear how she reached New York, federal officials said.
Reynolds was expected to be in federal court in Brooklyn today, according to US Attorney’s spokesman Thom Mrozek.
Transportation Security Administration officials asked Reynolds to step aside for a random security screening tomorrow, authorities said.
Reynolds went to a secondary screening area but quickly dropped her bag, ditched a pair of Gucci heels and fled barefoot downward on an upward-moving escalator, Marshall McClain, president of the union representing LAX airport police officers, said Monday.
Reynolds was charged with cocaine possession with intent to distribute. It was unclear if she yet had an attorney.
Mrozek said prosecutors believe reports that Reynolds was a runner-up in Miss Jamaica World 2008. New York University lists a Marsha-Gay Reynolds as having been on the school’s 2004 women’s track and field team, though it wasn’t immediately clear if that was the same Reynolds arrested yesterday.
On Friday, Reynolds arrived at an LAX checkpoint in Terminal 4 wearing jeans, heels and a black suit jacket, carrying her “known crew member badge,” according to an FBI affidavit in support of the charge against Reynolds. It wasn’t immediately clear whether she was on duty at the time.
When Reynolds was chosen for a random security screening, TSA Officer Jamie Samuel said the flight attendant became nervous and began looking around before pulling out her cellphone and making a call, according to the affidavit.
Samuel reported that Reynolds was talking on the phone in a foreign language as she was being taken to a secondary screening area, the affidavit says.
Once in the secondary screening area, TSA Officer Charles James asked for her identification. (AGENCIES)
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