Bush airport employee accused of stealing $3,000 cash from traveler

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Roy Creager and his family had sunshine on their mind as they headed through the TSA checkpoint at Bush Airport.

"Headed to Cabo for a couple of weeks with the family, typical Saturday travelling," said Creager.

Unfortunately, things went downhill before they ever left the airport.

"It was a bad start to a vacation," said Creager.

Roy says he was going through airport security when an employee from AirServ, a company that works at the airport, told him to take his cash out of his pocket and place it in the plastic bin.

"As I'm looking at her, she had her hand on the plastic container and kind of trying to look over her shoulder. At that point, I'm real suspicious," said Creager.

Once the bin came through, his $3,000 in cash was gone -- and so was the employee, at least temporarily.

"I started yelling that she took my money. By then, she was already in the restroom. At that point, we had HPD and TSA involved," said Creager.

The woman, Shaqerea Campbell, wasn't charged immediately. According to court records, officers went through video surveillance and say Campbell later admitted to the crime.

Campbell was terminated from the job. As of Friday evening, there was still a warrant out for her arrest.

AirsServ sent a statement saying employees undergo a strict TSA background checks.

Their statement said:

"As a matter of company policy, ABM does not comment on individual employee matters except to say that Ms. Campbell no longer works for the company. We have strict policies on these matters and note that, as a condition of employment, employees at the airport undergo a strict TSA background check. Given that this is a pending investigation, we refer you to law enforcement for any further questions on the matter."

Still, Creager would like to see TSA do more, especially since he says they were there at the security check.

"How can you have somebody in this capacity asking people to remove money. What if it's diamond rings or a nice watch?" said Creager.

Roy never got his $3,000 back. He and his family missed their flight. They did end up taking another one, though, and making the most of their vacation.