PA: JFK Airport baggage handler stole 6 watches worth $130G
Leslie Sharbo, 48, of Springfield Gardens, was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, by Port Authority police and charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. Credit: PAPD
Port Authority police arrested a contracted baggage handler from Queens Wednesday and charged him with stealing six Linde Werdelin collectible watches worth more than $130,000 last month from a controlled-access storage room at Kennedy Airport, authorities said.
Leslie Sharbo, 48, of 183rd Street, Springfield Gardens, was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, said Port Authority police spokesman Joseph Pentangelo. Five of the six watches, worth $115,229, were recovered during a search of Sharbo’s home, Pentangelo said. A sixth watch, valued at $17,697, has not been recovered.
Police said the watches arrived in a sealed package delivered Nov. 19 to the controlled-access room at Terminal 7 off British Airways Flight 181 from London. Pentangelo said police then interviewed everyone with access to the room. During an interview, Sharbo admitted to the theft, Pentangelo said.
The five watches recovered from Sharbo’s home include: a SpidoSpeed Rose Gold valued at $32,501; a SpidoLite valued at $26,592; a SpidoSpeed Carbon Green valued at $20,682; a SpidoSpeed Titanium valued at $17,727; and an Oktopus MoonLite valued at $17,727. The make of the sixth watch is unknown. Police said two Linde Werdelin watch boxes also were recovered.
Sharbo faces arraignment Thursday, police said.
Police said Sharbo was employed by Ground Service International at the time of the thefts, but said his current employment status was not immediately known.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
