Confirmed: Fullerton Cop Arrested for Stealing iPad at TSA Checkpoint

[Ichingcarpenter]

The following report confirms that an off-duty Fullerton police officer was arrested for stealing an Apple iPad at a Miami International Airport TSA checkpoint last month. According to court documents, FPD Officer Kelly Mejia was caught on surveillance video taking an $800 iPad from another passenger just after it had passed through the x-ray machine in the presence of TSA security agents


After the security footage was reviewed, Miami police canvassed the airport and discovered Mejia holding the iPad at the boarding gate. Mejia initially stated that she found the iPad and that she intended to keep it. Upon further questioning, the arresting officer says that Mejia confessed to taking the iPad and was placed under arrest for 3rd degree grand theft (a felony in Florida.)

The arrest report refers to Mejia’s occupation as a police officer and lists the address for FPD Headquarters as her place of employment. Kelly Mejia has been working with the Fullerton Police Department for at least six years and earns about $86,000 per year as a patrol officer.


http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/2011/fullerton-cop-arrested-for-stealing-ipad-at-tsa-checkpoint/

HEY IT WASN'T THE TSA IT WAS A COP THAT WAS THERE SO DON'T GET ANY IDEAS.

[TheDebbieDee]

1. $86,000/year as a patrol officer? Cops don't make that much, do they?

[demosincebirth]

14. That's starting pay in the the SF Bay Area for cops.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. San Diego starts at 70K and that is low pay

for California

[shanti]

20. apparently, they do in orange county

:eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Which iPad costs $800?!

[musette_sf]

3. the one that my boyfriends Skinner and Earl

gave me last year. :loveya:

[Codeine]

4. The 64 gig with 3G capability goes for $829 nt

[dkf]

5. 3G 32 gig with smart cover.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. 64 with wireless

829 to be exact

Here link

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad/select?mco=MjE0OTI0MDI

[intheflow]

6. She makes $86K and has to steal an iPad?!

OMG, greedy rich people make me sick! :puke:

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Please . . . . $86K is hardly "rich."

I'm not in any way defending a thief. I'm taking issue with your characterization of a person earning $86K as "rich."

[d_r]

8. twice as rich as me

and I don't "find" things and insist that I'm going to keep them.

[Cid_B]

29. And that's what rich is to most people...

"More than what I make..."

[PSPS]

9. Depends on your definition, I guess

75% of households in the US bring in under $80K per year. In other words, making %80K/year or more puts you in the top 25% of income earners.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. It is above the average you cite. It isn't in the universe as the truly rich.

An income of $86K will make it quite difficult to buy a basic house in many US markets, even at today's depressed prices.

[intheflow]

12. I haven't made more than $13K for five years.

And I have a Masters Degree. $86k is rich and privileged in America today.

[Stinky The Clown]

26. $86k is not rich or privileged. I'm sorry your masters degree hasn't paid off for you

But being bitter that you only make $13K is hardly a convincing argument that $86K is 'Rich and Privileged."

By the way, the median household income in Fullerton, Ca is $75,700. That puts the woman in your story at right about the middle. How much ya wanna bet the top 2%, where the well-off dwell, is well north of $250K? What do you guess the top 0.05%, where the bottom bracket of the real rich dwell, might be?

$86K is not poor, to be sure. But it isn't "rich" by a long shot.


on edit: I don't think she *had* to steal and iPad (as you aver in your earlier post). I think she *chose* to steal an iPad.

[demosincebirth]

17. Get you feet back on the ground, please. To many in this country 86K is mucho dinero.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. good salary for a 25 year old

[Xithras]

11. She lives in Los Angeles. $86k is middle class.

In many parts, it's downright poor. In Fullerton, $86k puts her solidly on the median, perfectly average middle class. And Fullerton is not a rich town.

Remember, you can't look at the income numbers in a vacuum. It's hard to call $86k "rich" when you live in an area where the cost of living is 25% above the national average and where the median home price is still over $350,000 after the downturn.

[intheflow]

13. Awesome for her to be middle class.

A $350k mortgage breaks down to about $1k/mo. mortgage payment. $86k breaks down to about $7k/mo. income. $7k/mo. is about half my YEARLY income. I still say she's rich and she can still afford to cough up $800 if she needs an iPad that badly.

[demosincebirth]

19. She's still a thief. I don't care how much she makes.

[shanti]

21. yes, middle class in oc

my sis (clerical) and BIL (a union electrician) make a combined $180,000, live in central OC and are hardly rich.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. That is hardly rich

that is upper middle class by income, blue collar by profession.

This is the problem, the US really has no class consciousness and bases things by money, not profession.

If you were talking assets at two million or above, as in annual income... and before you say it... my income is hardly what this cop makes,

[Hippo_Tron]

24. I don't think personal wealth is a decisive factor in one's decision to steal

It may play a role if one finds themself in a desperate situation, as people with less money are more inclined to. But otherwise I think people steal because they like to steal. Lord knows Bernie Madoff didn't need the money.

[Iggo]

30. She's a thief.

Doesn't matter how much she has, needs, or can afford. If she ain't stealing, she ain't winning.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. her 86K salary wasn't enough to buy her own ipad? Glad they caught the crook

glad the ipad owner made them look for it.

[izquierdista]

25. I wonder if this is a career limiting incident

It would be if I had anything to say about it.

[ret5hd]

27. she'll be put on "taser/baton" patrol.

[Iggo]

31. Should be a career ender.

Cop breaks law. No more cop.

[piratefish08]

28. she's a cop and a fucking THIEF. whether she makes $10K or $100K is irrelevant.

just another 'above the law', felony committing pig.

[geek_sabre]

32. FYI, you don't have to put iPad, iPhone, iPod in a separate container

Leave it in your bag, this should minimize risk of theft (from agents or passengers).

[Generic Other]

33. I expect cops to adhere to higher standards, so these sort of stories are really sad

How could an ipad be worth throwing away a career where she is respected for her honesty and dedication to serve the public?

There are too many corrupt cops on the beat these days. They give the profession a black eye.