MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A contract worker at Miami International Airport was arrested Thursday after investigators said a Cartier watch belonging to an airline passenger who left a bag behind on a flight was sold to a local jewelry store and eventually surfaced for sale online.
According to a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrest report, the passenger flew on an American Airlines flight from North Carolina to Miami on June 8.
After arriving at MIA, the passenger accidentally left behind a black leather crossbody bag valued at $260, investigators said.
The bag contained approximately $12,377.90 worth of valuables, including a Cartier Santos watch and AirPods, according to the report.
The passenger told investigators he was initially able to track his AirPods around Miami International Airport for several days using an app before the location stopped updating.
Then, on July 1, he discovered what he believed was his missing Cartier watch listed for sale on DannysVintageWatches.com, a New York-based website, according to the report.
Investigators said the passenger was able to identify the watch because of a distinctive gash on the upper-left portion of its bezel. He provided investigators with several photographs showing him wearing the watch with the same mark.
Detectives then began tracing how the watch ended up for sale.
According to the report, records obtained through an Aug. 7 subpoena showed that Danny’s Vintage Watches purchased the watch from Brickell Watches, a Miami-based broker.
A second subpoena showed Brickell Watches had acquired it from another Miami jewelry broker, Consistent Luxury LLC, the report stated.
According to the report, a representative for Consistent Luxury told investigators the watch had been purchased from Vera Jewelry, located at 12260 SW Eighth St.
The report states that records provided by Vera Jewelry showed the suspect, Carlos Elky Penton, 45, of Hialeah, had sold the watch there on June 11 — three days after the passenger left his bag behind — for $1,500, which investigators described as substantially below its fair market value.
Investigators determined that the suspect worked for Eulen at Miami International Airport. According to the arrest report, Eulen is contracted to service aircraft after passengers get off, and the company serviced the aircraft used for the passenger’s flight on June 8.
Deputies located Penton Thursday behind a residence in Hialeah and took him into custody.
After waiving his Miranda rights, the suspect told investigators he was not working on the day the bag went missing but said another Eulen employee had given him the watch, according to the report.
Investigators said he acknowledged that the watch did not belong to him and that he did not know its owner.
Penton was arrested on a charge of dealing in stolen property and was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for processing.
As of Friday afternoon, Penton remained held at TGK on a $7,500 bond.
It’s unclear whether the watch was ever returned to the victim.
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