Airport Screener Sought in Robbery

A federal airport screener stole more than $100,000 worth of jewelry from a store near Stroudsburg on Thursday night, holding a handgun on the terrified owners as they opened a safe in the back room, then binding their legs with tape, police said.

When officers responding to a silent alarm came to the front door of the Designer Diamond Outlet, the robber called out that the store was closed. Then, realizing it was the police, he put the gun to his head, police said.

The two owners, who had begged for their lives, now begged Daniel Edmund Pacheco not to take his own, according to police. Instead of pulling the trigger, he borrowed a cell phone from one of them, called a woman and told her that he was doing this "for us," then escaped out the back door.

The robbery happened as the store in the Stroud Plaza strip mall was closing about 6:30 p.m., when Pacheco, 26, of Bushkill, Pike County, walked in and said he was shopping for a diamond, Stroud Area Regional police said.

"They were in the process ofputting things away," said Police Chief John Baujan, who described the owners as a husband and wife. He said there were no customers in the store, at 1240 N. Ninth St. in Stroud Township.

A warrant for Pacheco's arrest was issued Friday, and police are working with local and federal authorities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to find him.

Pacheco works as a screener for the Transportation Security Administration at Newark Liberty International Airport. TSA spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the agency was aware of the armed robbery and had taken disciplinary action against Pacheco.

"He's been placed on indefinite suspension without pay," Kudwa said

After going into the store and saying he was shopping for a diamond, Pacheco pulled out a silver automatic handgun and forced the co-owners to the back, where he ordered them to open a safe, according to police.

The couple took diamonds, earrings and rings out of the safe, begging Pacheco not to kill them, Capt. William J. Parrish said. Pacheco told them he wanted the "expensive stuff," Parrish said.

The jewelry was put in a bag, and Pacheco tossed in a tray of merchandise he had grabbed, Parrish said. Pacheco continued to point the gun at the owners' heads, and "they repeatedly asked him not to kill them."

Having scooped up $100,000 worth of jewelry, Pacheco ordered the couple to lie on the floor and taped their legs together, Parrish said.

Officers responding to the shop's silent alarm came to the front door and looked inside but couldn't see into the back room, Parrish said. The officers yelled for the people inside to "come out," Parrish said.

Police didn't say whether the front door was locked.

Pacheco, apparently unaware police were out front, yelled "Closed," Parrish said. When the officers yelled again, Pacheco realized police were there and put the gun to his head, Parrish said.

The store owners told Pacheco "not to do it," and he used one of their cell phones to call a woman, telling her, "Remember, I did this for us," Parrish said.

Pacheco pointed the gun at one of the owners, who were still bound on the floor, and asked if there was a back door, Parrish said. The person pointed to it, and Pacheco grabbed the bag and fled.

Parrish said police found Pacheco's sport utility vehicle in the strip mall's parking lot. One of the store owners identified Pacheco from a photo line-up, police said.

The arrest warrant charges Pacheco with robbery, aggravated assault, theft, unlawful restraint and false imprisonment.

Kudwa, the TSA spokeswoman, did not know how long Pacheco had been employed by the agency or how much he earned. According to the TSA Web site, screeners' salaries range from $23,600 to $35,400.

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