"He Was Caught Stealing Sneakers, a Moncler Coat..." Former Spirit Baggage Handler Arrested, Charged

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Even shoes flying away from luggage at Norfolk International Airport. Now, a former baggage handler, Sterling Southall, faces two counts of felony grand larceny. And on your side, Karina Gutierrez, dug up those details in court paperwork. Karina, this is kind of the story that every person going to the airport is scared of.

[00:00:23]Yeah, that is right, Asia. This case all centers around a former baggage handler who worked here at Norfolk International Airport. Though, airport officials stress he no longer works with them and was not even employed by Norfolk International. He actually was employed under Spirit Airlines.

[00:00:39]Sterling Southall stands accused of stealing from passengers on at least two separate Spirit Airlines flights.

[00:00:45]Paperwork shows both victims were traveling from Norfolk to Fort Lauderdale and didn't realize anything was wrong until they landed.

[00:00:53]The first case dates back to September of 2025, according to court documents.

[00:00:57]Spirit Airlines was aware of the incident, but Southall remained employed.

[00:01:02]It wasn't until a second reported theft in November that he was terminated.

[00:01:06]Hearing that on a regular is a normal, no. But with Spirit, I really it doesn't surprise me. Norfolk Airport officials now stressing this appears to be an isolated incident with no indication of a larger theft ring, but rather one employee acting alone. In one case, a passenger reported a pair of high-end sneakers worth about a thousand dollars missing. In another, police say a designer Moncler jacket valued Hold on.

[00:01:30]Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Let me see something.

[00:01:33]Let me back up a little bit.

[00:01:37]Um at approximately 3:00 03:00 03:00, an observer Southall on duty in the baggage handling area with access to the affected flight and checked luggage.

[00:01:51]Your affiant personally observed Southall manipulating the passenger luggage in a manner consistent with theft.

[00:02:00]Basically, he was going through the luggage to try to figure out what he could steal.

[00:02:04]Um he was was further observed in possession of gray and white Nike Jordan sneakers matching the description of the stolen property. The sneakers were valued in excess of a thousand dollars.

[00:02:16]Southall was observed concealing the sneakers beneath his jacket prior to departing the secured area of the airport. You got to be a dusty person to steal somebody's gym shoes.

[00:02:31]You have to be one of the dustiest people in the world to go through somebody's stuff, put gym shoes inside of your jacket, and walk out.

[00:02:42]Do I got a jacket here?

[00:02:45]I got any jackets here? Let me see. Let me see this.

[00:02:47]You got You a dusty dude, bro.

[00:04:10]>> All right, y'all.

[00:04:12]I'm leaving out for the day. I'mma holler at you later. How do you steal sneakers?

[00:04:18]How do you steal sneakers out of some Do Do you know the level of effort that you have to make?

[00:04:25]>> [clears throat] >> You know the have the level of effort that you have to make in order to steal some sneakers and walk out?

[00:04:36]Let's say that you're a size 13, for example.

[00:04:40]Oh, man, I just got into this this the sneakers is my size.

[00:04:45]Right?

[00:04:46]They got my size.

[00:04:49]You go through you just so happen to find a size pair of 13 sneakers. You know how hard that is to put inside of a jacket? What kind of jacket do you buy to where you can steal somebody's sneakers and put it in your coat?

[00:05:04]This is dust This is dust mite activity right here.

[00:05:08]This is dust mite activity right here.

[00:05:22]>> [sighs] >> So [snorts] dusty. I can't stand a thief.

[00:05:36]There is nothing worse than a thief.

[00:05:43]I call this my Snuggie hoodie. Shout out to y'all for sending me this.

[00:05:47]It's my Snuggie hoodie right here. This is one of the most comfortable [laughter] Look at the inside of this joint.

[00:05:56]Oh, man. Whenever I want to get snuggy, Look at the inside of that. See that lining in there?

[00:06:06]>> [clears throat] >> Smug, how you feeling? BE COMFORTABLE, WARM. [screaming] WARM.

[00:06:22]GOT to get all of the white stuff on me now.

[00:06:33]AD smiling like a kid, so so cute.

[00:06:36]>> [laughter] >> Oh, let's see what else we can mine out of this.

[00:06:43]Um, on November 26th, 2025, at approximately 7:30, uh your affiant spoke with Mr. Brandon Reed and completed a police report. Mr. Reed stated that on November 25th, 2025, he departed Norfolk International Airport on Spirit Airlines flight NK 1829 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Upon arrival and unpacking his checked luggage, he discovered that a multi-colored Moncler puffy jacket valued at $2,000 was missing.

[00:07:22]Your affiant uh reviewed surveillance footage from November 26th and again observed Southall on duty on the baggage handling area with access to the affected flight and luggage. He was observed manipulating passenger luggage in a manner consistent with theft again.

[00:07:40]Your affiant later was later uh further observed uh Southall in possession of and wearing a >> [laughter] [gasps] >> and wearing a multi-colored Moncler puffy jacket matching the description of the stolen property while exiting the BAGGAGE HANDLING AREA.

[00:08:02]>> [laughter] >> HEY DOG.

[00:08:05]HEY DOG SAID I >> [laughter] >> I WILL wear this out.

[00:08:15]He wore He wore He wore him and he got some Hey dog, that's what you See and again, ladies, ladies, ladies.

[00:08:22]Sometimes when y'all seeing a dude that's fresh does not mean that he fresh, it mean that somebody else was fresh and now he's stole it. He carjacked it.

[00:08:36]Y'all meet this dude, "Girl, he got money. He got him a Moncler jacket on."

[00:08:41]You know how much that jacket is? That jacket is like 2,000 plus dollars.

[00:08:46]You don't even know that he a airport baggage handler, which is nothing wrong with being a airport baggage handler, but he stole that.

[00:08:56]He stole it. He wore it out.

[00:09:00]Jesus.

[00:09:05]Wore him a Moncler jacket out.

[00:09:08]Crazy.

[00:09:10]They say a designer Moncler jacket valued at around $2,000 was taken. We spoke with travelers at the airport who say while baggage theft isn't common for them, it's not entirely surprising. If you give certain people an opportunity to do bad, they will they will choose it. So, I could see that because it it it it is a lot of expensive luggage coming through and a lot of temptation.

[00:09:34]And while theft is rare, travel hiccups do happen, like for Will Johnson traveling with Delta. There was a little glitch today.

[00:09:41]>> Do you want to explain that?

[00:09:42]>> When when the when my suitcase we found it on the carousel, one of the outer pockets was unzipped. And some items that were in there were lost. They're They're gone.

[00:09:53]And I don't know if they were lost or taken out. It seems like they would have had to be taken out.

[00:09:58]Thankfully, it wasn't.

[00:10:00]They weren't terribly expensive little things, but easily replaceable. As for Southall, we went to the address listed in court documents.

[00:10:09]But no one answered the door.

[00:10:13]Now, we did reach out to Spirit Airlines who do confirm he is no longer employed with them, but no further comment beyond that. As for Norfolk International Airport officials, they tell us it was thanks to those who reported these suspicious activity that they were able to return some of these stolen items back to their owners. And Southall, he's due back in court come May 6th to face a grand jury. Guess what, big dog? You know what the worst part about this whole situation is?

[00:10:38]Is that Let me Let me find his mugshot again.

[00:10:42]I don't like thieves.

[00:10:44]Nothing like a good old thief. You know what the worst part about this is?

[00:10:48]Spirit ain't even in business no more and you're still facing charges.

[00:10:54]You still got to face charges, bro.

[00:10:57]Spirit is out of business and you still got to go to court for theft. And it's still going to be on your record.

[00:11:05]That was one of the things growing up, stealing wasn't an option. You know why?

[00:11:13]Just never wanted to have a record.

[00:11:17]Aside from it being the right thing to do, why would you want to have a record?

[00:11:22]Cuz you know, a lot of jobs nowadays, they will pull your your your your rap sheet and they'll say, "Okay, so listen, are you a criminal?" And it's going to say stole Moncler and Jordans.

[00:11:35]It's going to chase you down 10 years from now.

[00:11:40]It's going to That's the crazy part about life. Is that the things that you do is going to chase you down 10 You'll never ever be able to get comfort because you are working and you changed your life and when you get that new job opportunity, they're going to say, "Huh? No, 10 years ago?

[00:12:01]Wait a minute, buddy."

[00:12:02]So you were stealing Moncler and Jordans?

[00:12:08]You're You're stealing Moncler and Jordan. They Real jobs do extensive background reports. That's the That's the key.

[00:12:18]That's the key. You You lost your opportunity because they do extensive background reports. Have you got any misdemeanors? Nah. You got any felony felonies? Nah. Yeah, you do. You were stealing Moncler and because it was over $2,000, that's actually grand larceny.

[00:12:38]It's grand larceny.

[00:12:44]And your life is that much harder, that much more difficult because you wanted to wear a jacket to stunt on your friends.

[00:12:51]And it's so dumb. It's so dumb.

[00:12:56]If you don't get a ticket, get it for like speeding or Not saying that you should speed, but I'm just saying like something that's not going question your morals and your values. All right, so he went a little fast in a car, he got out of control.

[00:13:09]Okay, I feel you. You know what? I can get over that. You was young when this happened 10, 15 years ago? Yeah, dog, you crazy.

[00:13:19]You crazy, man.

[00:13:21]But you can't You can't walk down some some crimes. You can't walk down theft.

[00:13:26]Oh man, he a kleptomaniac. Hey man, hey, hide your purse, bro.

[00:13:31]He a thief.

[00:13:33]Thief!

[00:13:35]Thief! A king! Thief all the stuff.

[00:13:39]I let them wear it.

[00:13:44]Messing with little children, you can't come back from that.

[00:13:48]Oh, man, he he like to find all kids.

[00:13:50]What?

[00:13:52]Girl, that's the ultimate red flag.

[00:13:58]It's some stuff you can't get away from.

[00:14:00]It's some stuff that you can get away from.

[00:14:04]Antwan, what are some >> [laughter] >> There are egregious crimes that you can get away with and there's egregious crimes that you can't get away with.

[00:14:16]It's crazy.

[00:14:17]It's insane.

[00:14:20]Hey man, he wind up killing somebody.

[00:14:22]You know what, girl?

[00:14:23]That was his past.

[00:14:26]You know, he was in a gang.

[00:14:28]He changed his life around. He not like that no more.

[00:14:32]Hey girl, you know he used to beat up on women.

[00:14:36]Oh, girl, that's the ultimate red flag.

[00:14:38]I No, no, no, cuz if he did it if he did it 20 years ago, then he would do it today. He just having it It's held down in him.

[00:14:48]You could talk You could talk to a murderer. You can't talk to a beater.

[00:14:56]I don't know how it works. I don't know why it works. I don't know how this plays out.

[00:15:02]But for whatever reason, we got different standards depending on the crimes.

[00:15:09]Am I off?

[00:15:12]You can kill a dude, but don't put your hands on the chick.

[00:15:17]That's right. I don't make the rules. I just react to the culture.

[00:15:22]I don't make the rules. I just react to the culture. If the aliens come down and say, "How come you able to kill somebody, but you you put your hands on a chick and they trying to remove all of your socials?"

[00:15:33]I don't know, alien. I don't know, alien. That's just the way that it is.

[00:15:42]>> [laughter] >> I don't know. That's just That's the culture.

[00:15:48]Don't don't ask me. Don't blame me. I didn't make it this way. That's just the way that things go.