A tale of two airport arrests

While vacationing on the East Coast earlier this month, I heard an interesting news item about a man who had tried to carry a gun onto a plane.

The gentleman worked for the taxpayers and was traveling on official business in June, headed to an out-of-state conference. He apparently had forgotten that his handgun was tucked away inside his laptop case — one of his carry-on items.

It was discovered by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker when the bag went through an X-ray machine at a checkpoint.

He had a license to carry a concealed weapon in his home state but — unfortunately for him — that airport was in the next state over.

The man was arrested and faces a felony charge that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

According to TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein, individuals who bring firearms to the checkpoint are subject to criminal charges from local law enforcement and civil penalties from TSA of up to a $12,000 fine. Typically a first offense for bringing a firearm to a checkpoint is $3,000, she said.

Arrested was Delaware state senator Brian Pettyjohn. He was detained at the Salisbury (Maryland) Regional Airport en route to an educational conference in New Orleans.

It sounds all too familiar to the ordeal involving the City of Clovis' IT Director Paul Nelson last month. Nelson was snagged under what we’re guessing are similar circumstances at a security checkpoint at Love Field in Dallas while traveling to Washington, D.C., on a city-financed trip.

We’re guessing, because the stories diverge from there.

Pettyjohn was detained at the airport on the morning of June 22. The gun was confiscated and he was allowed to continue on his way. By that afternoon, his office issued a press release about the incident. Shortly after, Pettyjohn responded to a reporter at one of the local newspapers there. He was seemingly upfront about the situation.

“It's just one of those things where I didn't check that one little flap, and there it was,” he told the reporter. “Sometimes mistakes happen, whether you're a legislator or not.”

Shortly after, his attorney, Bruce Rogers, acknowledged the situation and that a preliminary hearing is set for next week. Rogers told another reporter at that newspaper the charge seemed “a little excessive” for an honest mistake.

“Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and we'll try to find out what they're after here,” Roger continued. “There is certainly nothing which rises to the level of a felony of carrying a firearm to an airplane.”

Meanwhile, in the case of Nelson, the city of Clovis still hasn't even admitted anything occurred. That's despite the simple fact Nelson works for taxpayers and was traveling on their dime.

Nelson isn't talking. Interim City Manager Tom Phelps won't enter into a dialogue about it, nor will City Attorney David Richards. No one on the city commission has disclosed anything happened either.

The only way we do know about the event is because of a tip and more than a half-dozen public records requests to four public entities. And that's after phone calls to city officials that numbered in the double digits.

We're almost six weeks out from Nelson's June 11 arrest. We do know he wasn't placed on paid or unpaid administrative leave. He also wasn't fired, so he's apparently still collecting a paycheck — whether he's working or not.

Why all of the secrecy? Why give the B.S. “it's a personnel matter” non-explanation?

We have two nearly identical situations, both involving what appear to be slight lapses in judgment. We suspect neither Pettyjohn nor Nelson had ill intent.

One entity is handling the situation up front and honest, or above board if you will.

The other entity is the city of Clovis.

Rob Langrell is the publisher of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at: [email protected]