Airline Employee Charged with Theft for Stealing Passenger Luggage after Asiana Airlines Crash

Charges of grand theft and commercial burglary have been slapped against an employee of United Airlines and his girlfriend for allegedly stealing passenger items from luggage detained at the airport, following the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in early July.

Police charged Sean Sharif Crudup, 44, and Raychas Elizabeth Thomas, 32, based on evidence gathered from a surveillance footage taken on July 8, which was two days after the crash happened.

Airport surveillance footage obtained by the police showed Mr Crudup, then working at the baggage claim area, on July 8 going through the contents of a luggage bag stranded at the airport's United Airlines terminal.

The same bag was later seen held by two separate women, one of which was holding another different bag. One of the women was later identified by police as Ms Thomas, Mr Crudup's girlfriend. The other woman remains to be identified.

Their heist would have remained unknown had not their victim and owner of one of the bags received a phone call from her personal shopper at Nordstrom's. The personal shopper reportedly inquired for an explanation why the victim's sister returned $6,000 worth of clothing.

Although the victim did note that one of their bags were missing, they rationalised the chaos was a resulting aftermath of the Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash.

"There were some issues with the bags being located and one of their bags was missing," Detective Sgt. Wes Matsuura of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office told ABCNews. "All the airports were a mess that weekend."

"The victim told her personal shopper, 'I don't know what you're talking about, I don't have a sister, I didn't return any clothes,'" Mr Matsuura said.

The victim, who refused to be identified, immediately contacted investigators. Police asked for a copy of Nordstrom's surveillance footage which showed a woman, later identified as Ms Thomas, going inside a Nordstrom store in Pleasanton, California and exchanging the items for cash, even without a receipt on hand.

The two suspects were arrested while catching a flight to Hawaii at the San Francisco International Airport on July 25.

A search of their shared home revealed more of their victims' properties.

Both are out on bail.

Charged with one count each of grand theft and two counts each of commercial burglaries, if convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 4 years and 4 months in prison.

"The unfortunate coincidence is that Asiana was on July 6, and this crime was on July 8," Mr Matsuura said. "It was a crime of opportunity. A lot of bags were down there."

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed in San Francisco on July 6. Two people died at the scene and a third at the hospital a few days later. Some 180 were injured.