Rick Case is more than just a multimillionaire auto magnate with dealerships in Ohio, Georgia, and Florida. He’s also a petty, vindictive son of a bitch who favors kingly writing utensils.
That’s the word seeping out of south Florida, where Case was flying from Fort Lauderdale when he left behind a $450 pen at airport security back in June. Surveillance cameras later captured footage of a TSA screener who grabbed the pen to sign a time sheet, then pocketed it.
Unfortunately for the agent, Case has “sentimental” ties to the pen. Also unfortunate: Case has a history of donating to the area’s sheriff’s department. And so an investigation ensued, complete with lie-detector tests for TSA employees.
The stunning revelation came about in this Law & Order-worthy interrogation:
Interrogator: “Did that pen belong to you when you took it?”
Agent: “No, it did not.”
Asked why he took it in the first place, he explained: “I don’t know. The pen is a, the pen is, the pen is a goddamn, nice pen.”
The prodigal pen was returned to Case, who celebrated by pressing felony theft charges against the agent.
According to the Broward Palm Beach New Times, the state attorney’s office got the case from the sheriff and responded much as every other human being on earth would: huh? But because the agent had confessed, the case went forward. The agent rejected a deal that would have had him cop to taking the pen in exchange for a year of probation. So a trial date has been set.
Case could not be reached for comment, though reporters did not particularly want to talk to him anyway.
This article appears in Jan 4-10, 2012.
Wow, what a d-bag. You’d think the fact that he got the pen back would have been enough to just drop the whole thing. Jesus…
Mr Case, please pursue this case. tsa is an out of control govt bureacracy letting, even encouraging, the security guards to overstep their bounds and jurisdiction.
A criminal record is a prerequisite to becoming a TSA agent. Good for Rick case
People are overlooking an unreported fact in this story: that pen is stocked with Mr. Case’s jizz. It is not just an ordinary $450 pen but a writing instrument capable of impregnating anybody who touches it.
This guy is a low life scumbag that has a failing business in ohio. He does not have more important things to worry about. How about doing SOMETHING good in Ohio. And not in Florida. Maybe he should go back to Colorado and do some real work.
Captain Piliger
Wow, it must be nice to have so much money that you can (1) afford to leave behind a $450 pen, and (2) donate enough cash to a local sheriff’s office that they’re willing to open a case looking into a missing pen. The funny part is, the taxpayers foot the bill for the manpower involved in the investigation and administering lie detector tests looking for this idiot’s pen that he left behind. If it’s a $450 pen, take better care of it. Otherwise, buy 10 cent pens like the rest of us do and when you lose it, pull another one out of your jumbo box of 50.
And what the hell makes a pen worth $450? Apparently being dumb, because unless this thing is plated in 24k gold, I don’t see how it can cost that much.
Oh, hey, and for everyone that thinks the TSA has the fault in this, how about don’t forget your $450 pen and then none of this ever happens. Case probably left the pen behind on purpose just because he wanted to ruin someone’s day, or he has a Vendetta against the TSA because no one wanted to give him a pat-down. Sad.
Crime is ok, as long as the victim is a jerk?
Adam: The TSA does bear fault. The agent took something that wasn’t his.
That doesn’t change the fact that Rick Case is a complete fucking moron for leaving a $450 object behind and not making damned sure he has it. It also doesn’t change the fact that pressing charges is a ridiculous overreaction. It’s a PEN.