Screeners uncover gun in baggage

Alicia Robinson

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man attempting to pass

through security with a loaded handgun and a knife Thursday

afternoon, officials said.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Ali Reza Khatami, 65, of

Yorba Linda, at about 1:30 p.m., after baggage screeners detected the

weapons when Khatami tried to pass through security to board a United

Airlines flight to Washington, D.C. He was charged with possession of

a loaded firearm and attempting to carry a firearm and a knife into a

sterile or secure area of an airport, Orange County Sheriff’s

Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Khatami is not eligible for bail and is being held at the Orange

County Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana, Amormino said. No arraignment

has been set.

“He is not on any terrorist watch lists, and we have no reason to

believe he is linked to terrorists at this time,” Amormino said.

Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez

said a baggage screener detected the knife and gun while x-raying

Khatami’s carry-on bag, and an administration employee notified

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies.

Airport operations were not disrupted by the arrest, Amormino

said. The case is being presented to the U.S. Attorney’s office for

the possible filing of federal charges, he said.

Finding an illegal item in a passenger’s luggage is not unusual,

Melendez said. The administration has about 300 workers stationed at

John Wayne Airport, he said.

“That’s our job,” he said. “This is something that our people are

trained for, and they’re obviously on the lookout for it.”

Administration workers have recovered more than 1,900 guns at

airports throughout the nation in the past two years, and in the last

two months there’s been an upswing of people trying to bring weapons

through security, Melendez said.

Despite all the publicity airport security has gotten since Sept.

11, some people still may not know the rules, he said.

“Often the passengers tell us, ‘Oh, I just forgot it was in my

backpack,’” he said.

Some passengers arriving at the airport Friday said they’re not

concerned about terrorism when they fly, because the safety measures

that are in place are sufficient.

“No, I’m not worried about that at all,” said Zhabiz Moshari of

Oakland. He said terrorists will always try to come up with ways to

get around whatever security there is.

“If someone wants to do something, it’s possible, in my opinion,”

he said.

Tammy Wallace, who was waiting for a flight back home to

Indianapolis, said she heard about the arrest on the news. The fact

that Khatami was stopped before getting on the plane means

Transportation Security officials did a good job, she said.

She hadn’t flown before coming to Orange County, so it surprised

her when she had to take her shoes off to get through security, she

said. But she wasn’t upset by it.

“They’re doing it for a reason, to save our lives,” she said.

While it may happen more often elsewhere, the gun incident is rare

for John Wayne Airport, but everyone involved handled it well,

Amormino said.

“I think it’s a success story, which shows the system works with

the high-tech equipment and the stepped-up security,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.