SINGAPORE - An auxiliary airport police officer who allegedly kept a pair of AirPods that an airline passenger had lost was arrested and will face criminal breach of trust charges on March 7.
The police, in a statement on March 6, said they were alerted to a case of suspected theft on Feb 28, at about 5.35 pm.
It involved a 29-year-old auxiliary police officer who was working in Changi Airport Terminal 2.
Investigations found that an airline passenger had lost a pair of wireless earphones called AirPods, which he accidentally left behind in the aircraft.
The AirPods were later found by a cabin crew member, who handed them over to the auxiliary police officer, who was on duty at the time.
The officer, who was entrusted with the lost earphones, decided to keep them for his own use.
The police said: “He provided a photograph of his personal unbranded earbuds to the lost and found office and handed them over instead of the victim’s AirPods.”
When the passenger came to collect his earphones, he discovered that they were not his.
The officer’s company carried out an internal investigation, and lodged a police report when it realised the man had taken the earphones illegally.
He was then arrested, and the earphones were returned to its owner.
The officer will be charged in court on March 7. If found guilty, he can be fined and jailed up to seven years.
Join [ST's WhatsApp Channel](https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VZzIPtoFXUuS8frj520t) and get the latest news and must-reads.