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Rape at Denver International Means Think Twice About Sleeping in Airports

Don't cry "rape" when you pass through one of the TSA's full-body scanners, because actual airport rape does happen, and it's not something to be taken lightly. In the early morning hours yesterday, a 26-yr-old man was arrested at Denver International Airport after sexually assaulting a 22-yr-old woman who was staying in the airport through the night after missing her connection.

The two allegedly began chatting at a bistro within the airport, but when the girl excused herself, the man followed then assaulted her. It was only when two of the airport employees outside saw the assault through the windows that 911 was called and the man arrested by airport security.

This crime should immediately cause a siren to go off in the heads of solo travelers who find themselves hanging out in airports, especially after hours. Being past TSA security on the "airside" end of an airport doesn't automatically guarantee safety, and in such a place of transience, it's best to reflect on the "don't talk to strangers" lesson you learned in kindergarten.

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Tourists / Crime / Know the Law / Dubai Travel / Rules / Airport News / → All Tags

Man Serves Jail Time for Flipping the Bird at Dubai Airport

There’s nothing Dubai wants more than to succeed as a global vacation destination, and that’s especially true when it comes to luring western visitors out into the desert sun. Unfortunately every now and again there are reports of some extreme behavior when it comes to punishment for those that don’t live up to all the rules and standards within the Emirate.

The latest news involves a man getting sent to the slammer for doing something that several passengers probably do each day in especially aggravating airports like JFK and O’Hare. Apparently a British gentleman decided to flip the bird to an airport worker, after the airline employee refused to let him use some kind of customer service telephone.

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Airline News / JetBlue / Ryanair / Steven Slater / Flight Attendants / Bad Ideas / Crime / → All Tags

JetBlue Totally Unamused by the Steven Slater Slide Incident

JetBlue CEO Dave Barger gave an interview this week to TheStreet.com, declaring that former flight attendant Steven Slater was "not a hero" and blasting Slater's chute deployment stunt as "an egregious act." The talking points fit squarely into the rest of JetBlue's post-Slater strategy, which started from the very beginning with Twitter frowny faces about all the jokes that were flying around.

The airline was wrong about the humor value of the tweets—some of the ones we rounded up at the time were objectively funny—but the rest of their reaction is reasonable. Their frustration isn't just a public show either. JetBlue's internal memos leave no room for doubt about how seriously they're taking the incident. That's what happens when you blow out a slide that has enough force to kill a person.

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Celeb Travel / Barcelona Travel / Shakira / Crime / → All Tags

Shakira Gets Fined for Shaking Her Hips in Barcelona's Famed Fountain

Shakira's hips might not lie, but it turns out they're still pretty offensive, at least to the authorities in Barcelona.

The Colombian pop star had a great time dancing with fans in Barcelona's famous Pla de Palau fountain last week during a break from filming the video for her next single, Loca. Later, she got onto the back of a motorcycle sans helmet and (literally) rode off into the sunset. Reportedly, the footage was to be used in a promo for the song and video.

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Steven Slater / Flight Attendants / Jetblue / Bad Ideas / Crime / → All Tags

The Funniest Tweets about Jetblue Flight Attendant Steven 'Slip 'n Slide' Slater

Without a doubt you've by now heard the story of Steven "Slip 'n Slide" Slater, the 39-year-old Jetblue flight attendant who on Monday, after getting into a verbal fight with an uncooperative passenger while the plane taxiied to the gate at JFK's Terminal 5, unleashed expletives over the PA, grabbed two beers, opened the emergency exit and inflated the evacuation slide and sent himself down it and made a run for home.

As it turns out, he did escape the airport with both beers, his two carry-ons (which he sent down the slide before him) and was later arrested at his home in Queens while in bed with his partner. He's now facing up to 7 years in prison.

A dramatic way to quit his job to say the least, the epic of Slater has now become an internet meme in its own right, spurring animated flicks of the event, discussions on other craziest ways to quit, and even songs. We've been most entertained by Twitter however, as the witty banter continues. Here, we've gathered up some of the funniest tweets on the topic:

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Flight Attendants / Jetblue / Bad Ideas / Crime / Steven Slater / → All Tags

Flight Attendant Quits Job by Jumping Out on Airplane's Evacuation Slide

Late-breaking (but kinda awesome) news today as NYT's City Room blog states that a Jetblue flight attendant exited his airplane at Terminal 5 at JFK via the inflatable emergency slide. Steven Slater, 39, was arrested at his home not far away in Belle Harbor, Queens. He was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.

The dramatic finale wasn't a result of issues with the airline, but with an "uncooperative" passenger onboard the flight from Pittsburgh to New York. Says the NYT:

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Celeb Travel / Paris Hilton / Hot Yachts / Yachting / Crime / Drug Travel / → All Tags

Paris Hilton Detained by Airport Police for Pot...Again

Paris Hilton got into a bit of hot water again Friday night when she flew into the Figari Airport in Corsica with pot in her purse. Paris, her sister Nicky, and a few of their girlfriends, flew to the French island via private jet, but didn't plan to stay long as they had a yacht waiting nearby to take them to Sardinia.

But, before the ladies had a chance to make it to their yacht, Paris was stopped by the police after their dogs detected drugs in her bag. They brought her into their offices for questioning but found less than a gram of pot on her so she was released without charges.

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Crime / Jaunted Interviews / JFK / Baggage / Luggage / Business Travel / Airport News / → All Tags

How to Catch a Baggage Thief: An Interview with an Airport Good Samaritan

Did you check your bag onto a flight only to find that it didn't arrive with you and—horror of horrors—it's gone completely missing? Unfortunately, baggage theft at airports is problem and the issue hit home this week for our frequent traveling friend Dan S., who not only recently lost a bag but who caught a JFK Airport janitor red-handed stealing bags and had him arrested.

We were thirsty for the whole dramatic story, and Dan was nice enough to take a few minutes out from jetting around the country to answer our questions, so enjoy:

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Crime / Airport Security / TSA / Security Theater / Security / BOS / Drug Travel / → All Tags

Another TSA Fail As Agent Admits To Selling Drugs

We kind of feel bad for the TSA. Despite their attempts to keep us safe from ourselves, there are the few rogue agents that continue to bring bad news to the entire agency. However, that doesn’t mean that we are going to stop pointing out their missteps, like the former agent who recently admitted to selling drugs.

A former TSA employee at Boston's Logan Airport recently spilled the beans about selling OxyContin. The best part of the story is that he used his drug money profits to buy himself a Lotus—a fancy pants sports car. His best sales were during January 2006, when he sold about 200 of the pills while working for the government.

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Crime / Airline News / Air France / Travel News / → All Tags

Airplane Pickpocket Robs Sleeping Passengers of Over $5,500

What a travel season it has been this winter, huh? Jeez—so much news, and most of it horrible. Well the bad news train keeps chugging along with the alert that yesterday, a thief on an Air France pickpocketed sleeping passengers in business class, making off with over $5,500.

The flight, a direct between Tokyo-Narita and Paris-Charles de Gaulle, is one where flying through the night usually sends passengers into a deep sleep, especially when we're talking biz class with their larger seats and extra perks. According to MSNBC, an alarm was raised while the plane was still in the air, when a passenger awoke to find over 3,000 Euros ($4,300) missing from her purse. Who carries that kind of cash in their purse, anyway? Oh yes—people flying business class between Paris and Tokyo.

Although police were waiting when the airplane arrived at CDG, no suspect was apprehended and Air France holds to their policy that passengers are responsible for their own belongings in the cabin. All in all, five passengers were robbed mid-flight. We're tempted to side with the airline on this one, since—duh—being in business class doesn't mean everything is safe and you can be careless with your purse—but still, shouldn't the flight crew have spotted something out of the ordinary?

Perhaps it's time again to review our guide to keeping your passport safe. What do you think?

Related Stories:
· Airline pickpocket strikes as passengers sleep [MSNBC]
· Air France says pickpocket case 'very rare,' won't cause change [Biz Week]
· Crime in Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Archie McPhee Seattle]

Crime / Cruise Travel / Bahamas Travel / Nassau Travel / → All Tags

Trouble In Paradise As Bahamas Cruisers Targeted By 'Unusually Brazen' Criminals

It was a good news/bad news kind of thing for Bahamas officials when Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, pulled into Nassau last Friday. On the good news side of the ledger, the ship brought with it tourists and tourist dollars that are still desperately needed in the context of a global tourism downturn. On the bad news side, Royal Caribbean sent a newsletter to all passengers warning that Nassau is quickly becoming crime-soaked and dangerous for tourists. Not the best kind of press.

Taken just on its own, the newsletter was hardly anything alarming. It blandly reminded tourists that like all international cities, Nassau has its dangers. Cruise officials suggested minimizing those dangers by staying in organized tours. Two problems though. First, it's still a huge blow to the easy-going image that Bahamas tourism agencies have tried to cultivate. The Prime Minister had to go to a Royal Caribbean celebration and promise everyone that the government's committed to toning down the pace of robberies and murders. Second, as this story from last month illustrates, going on a tour is exactly the wrong way to avoid getting robbed:

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Smuggling / Lizards / Crime / U.S. Customs / LAX / Weird Travel / Animal Smuggling / Money Belts / → All Tags

Leapin' Lizards! Cali Man Busted Smuggling Aussie Reptiles in Money Belt

Things travelers should put in a money belt: Passport, tickets, cash, emergency contact information. Things travelers should not put in a money belt: lizards. It may seem rather obvious to most readers of this blog, but there's one guy in California who somehow never picked up this basic tenet of travel wisdom. As the LA Times points out, 40-year-old Michael Plank was arrested by U.S. Customs agents at Los Angeles International Airport this week when he was found to have 15 lizards stuffed in a money belt. Plank was on his way back from Australia and apparently decided to bring 11 skinks, two monitor lizards, and two geckos with him to his LA home, where they'd be worth around $8,500.

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