A Transportation Security Administration screener at LaGuardia Airport has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a 22-year-old foreign exchange student when she arrived in Queens this week, Port Authority police sources tell NBC 4 New York.
The Port Authority Police Department and the Queen's District Attorney's Office identified the TSA screener as Maxie Oquendo, 40, of Manhattan. He was arrested Thursday night at the airport.
The student, who is from Korea, lives in Salt Lake City but had come to New York to visit friends Tuesday.
When she arrived at the airport, a male TSA agent approached her and asked her to follow him for "additional screening," the sources said. He said he needed to see if she had a knife or a weapon.
The victim, who does not speak English well, followed him to the men's restroom. There, the screener asked the woman to lift her shirt, according to the Port Authority police sources.
He allegedly touched her breasts and put his hand down her shorts before letting her leave the bathroom.
The woman told other TSA officers about the attack and Port Authority police took a report, the sources told NBC 4 New York.
The TSA has fired the screener, said Peter Neffenger, TSA administrator.
"TSA holds its employees to the highest standards," he said. "As such, we expect our employees to conduct themselves with integrity, professionalism, and with respect for the public we serve. When our employees fail to meet these fundamental ethical standards, we will hold our personnel appropriately accountable."
