By Sadef Ali Kully
A Brooklyn woman, who worked at Kennedy Airport cleaning aircrafts, was charged with grand larceny and other crimes last week for allegedly swiping thousands of dollars worth of tiny bottles of liquor over a three-year period, announced Queens DA Richard Brown.
“The defendant was a contract employee at Kennedy Airport. She was entrusted with cleaning planes. In addition, however, to tidying up the aircraft the defendant allegedly helped herself to the mini bottles of alcohol on board,” said the DA.
Juanette Cullum, 48, of Brooklyn was arraigned April 24 in Queens Criminal Court on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Cullum worked for Air Serv, an airport cleaning company which terminated her employment after the arrest. She was a cleaner for American Airlines in Terminal 8 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Cullum’s alleged thefts were reported by a witness to the Port Authority Police Department at JFK.
According to the criminal complaint, that tip to police regarding the alleged swiper prompted a visit to Cullum’s home. When confronted, she allegedly admitted stealing the mini bottles and other miscellaneous items over a three-year period. It is alleged that police recovered 14,290 tiny, unopened liquor bottles in a closet, 19 Kindle tablets, seven iPads, two laptops and toiletries in her home. The stolen liquor over the three years is valued at approximately $10,000, said the criminal complaint.
Police also confirmed with the security manager for American Airlines that the recovered items were in fact property of American Airlines.
