A federal air marshal was arrested after being accused of snapping cellphone photographs underneath women’s skirts and dresses as they boarded a flight in Nashville, TN on Thursday.
The 28-year-old marshal, Adam Joseph Bartsch, of Rockville, MD
was charged with disorderly conduct by police. He admitted to the
crime, and has been relieved of his duties while the
Transportation Security Administration considers whether to
suspend or terminate his employment.
“(The TSA) does not tolerate that sort of criminal
behavior,” said Michael Pascarella, spokesman for the Federal
Air Marshal Service, which is overseen by the TSA, to the
Associated Press.
According to the police, Bartsch was on duty when a witness
realized he was taking photos of women as they walked by. When
the witness brought this to the attention of a flight attendant,
airport police were informed and Bartsch was removed from the
plane, a Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Nashville to
Tampa, FL.
“We removed a passenger from Flight No. 3132 from Nashville to
Tampa prior to departure due to a Customer concern that was
brought to our attention,” Southwest said in a statement to
NBC News. “We turned the matter over to local law enforcement,
and the passenger did not travel as scheduled.”
Bartsch is scheduled to appear in court on November
14.