He Wore Khakis, a Blue Shirt and the Signature Blue Gloves, but the Man Who Allegedly Patted Down Two Women at Airport Security Was Not a TSA Agent

A man was arrested this week at San Francisco International Airport on suspicion of public drunkenness, but he also allegedly posed as a TSA screening agent and conducted private pat downs on female travelers.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that official Transportation Security Administration officers found the 53-year-old man, who was wearing khaki pants, a blue polo and blue rubber gloves, Tuesday in a private room with a woman.

The newspaper reported that the man allegedly brought one woman into a private booth, but she couldn't give an account of the incident because she had already left to catch a flight. Real TSA agents though caught the man with a second woman, first noticing something was amiss because it is against policy for a male screener to conduct a pat down on a female passenger.

TSA pat downs are usually conducted in public, unless requested otherwise by the passenger, and by an agent of the same gender. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

"They will be [investigating] this for a week," an unnamed law enforcement source told the Chronicle. "Someone has to pay for this."

Watch KPIX-TV's report about the incident:

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office could not give further details on the case because TSA is handling the investigation. Depending on the investigation's outcome, the man could face further charges.

(H/T: BoingBoing)

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Update: The San Francisco Chronicle later identified  the alleged perpetrator as Eric Slighton, a man it described as a "high-powered financier."

“There was a time in the past when he had drinking problem, but that was 10 years ago,” the suspect's father, Rob Slighton,  told the newspaper. “To the best of my knowledge, he doesn’t drink at this time and he doesn’t drink when he comes here.”

“I am shocked he is associated with something like this,” the elder Slighton said.