Airline baggage handlers swipe $80K Patek Philippe watch from traveler’s luggage: cops

A pair of pilfering baggage handlers at a New Orleans airport swiped a nearly $80,000 Patek Philippe watch from a passenger’s luggage, police said.

Thaddeus Porter, 42, and Morris Robinson, 18, were busted for allegedly snatching the luxury timepiece from the luggage of a man who had flown from Los Angeles to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Sept. 24, NOLA.com reported. 

Two baggage handlers swiped a luxury watch from a flier’s luggage Sept. 24 at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, cops said. Getty Images

Investigators from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said they reviewed security-camera footage and were able to identify Porter and Robinson, who worked handling baggage for the traveler’s airline, as the thieves.

Authorities said the victim told cops that when he got his bag, he noticed it was ripped along the zipper – and that his pricey Patek Philippe Aquanaut, valued at $79,050, was gone.

Security-camera footage led cops to the suspects. 4kclips – stock.adobe.com

Cops arrested the alleged thieving duo that same day and booked them into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Facility, charging them with felony theft valued over $25,000, court records show. 

Records show that a day later, Porter and Robinson posted two separate $25,000 bonds, according to court records. 

Porter and Robinson could not be reached for comment.