ARGENTINA: A Texas man arrested in Argentina for trying to board an airplane with a gun in his carry-on luggage says the weapon travelled in his bag all the way from Houston, Texas by mistake

Record ID: 446757

  • Title: ARGENTINA: A Texas man arrested in Argentina for trying to board an airplane with a gun in his carry-on luggage says the weapon travelled in his bag all the way from Houston, Texas by mistake
  • Date: 18th November 2011
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (NOVEMBER 17, 2011) (REUTERS) SUSPECT, STEVEN LEE BURDITT AND LAWYER WALKING ACROSS STREET INTERIOR AIRPORT PEOPLE AT CHECK-IN DESKS SECURITY POST IN AIRPORT/SECURITY FORCES BURDITT (SOUNDBITE) (English) BURDITT SAYING: "So they ran the bag through the scanner and he showed me the scanner and he pointed out what he was calling a pistol. Now from that photograph that I looked at, I was having a difficult time seeing that there was a weapon in there and he reached in and sure enough, he pulled out and sure enough, yes, it was mine. They got to backtracking on the events on that pistol getting in my bag the previous week. I had taken my automobile in for service and that pistol stays under the seat upon service and so I removed it and put it in the bag, had the car worked on, picked it up, completely forgot the pistol was in that briefcase. Now, we're talking a large bag style briefcase not the little square briefcase, you know, the bag style had multiple pockets." LAWYER LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS BURDITT LOOKING AT STILLS OF THE GUN BURDITT TALKING TO LAWYER (SOUNDBITE (Spanish) BURDITT'S LAWYER CARLOS VILLEGAS SAYING: "There shouldn't be punishment precisely because of what he was just saying: there's no crime. If I don't know the guns exists... Which is to say there was no intent, no wilful misconduct. There's not even blame because what we have here is him forgetting, nothing more. That's the point of view here. In all this we have to think what's happening airport security here and in the United States." VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF AIRPORT PLANES ON TARMAC (SOUNDBITE) (English) BURDITT SAYING: "Huge mistake for me, completely unintentional, no intention at all, but it happened, yes it did. Again, how it was to go through the Houston, I don't know, I'm sure they will go back and investigate and try to correct that." EXTERIOR BUILDING/GUARD OUTSIDE
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA3JXNW3UEBH52ZO19IXP0KWOZ2
  • Story Text: United States citizen Steven Lee Burditt said Thursday (November 17) he mistakenly left a handgun in his carry-on luggage while trying to board a flight out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He said he unknowingly travelled from Houston to Buenos Aires with the gun in his carry-on bag aboard a flight.
    Burditt, a 46-year-old Texan, was arrested after airport security detected a firearm, ammunition and pepper spray in his bag during a routine security check.
    He was trying to return home on a Continental Airlines flight bound for Houston just past 9 p.m. local time (00:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
    Burditt said he had mistakenly left the gun in a large briefcase before leaving Houston on November 7.
    "So they ran the bag through the scanner and he showed me the scanner and he pointed out what he was calling a pistol. Now from that photograph that I looked at, I was having a difficult time seeing that there was a weapon in there and he reached in and sure enough, he pulled out and sure enough, yes, it was mine. They got to backtracking on the events on that pistol getting in my bag the previous week. I had taken my automobile in for service and that pistol stays under the seat upon service and so I removed it and put it in the bag, had the car worked on, picked it up, completely forgot the pistol was in that briefcase. Now, we're talking a large bag style briefcase not the little square briefcase, you know, the bag style had multiple pockets," he said Thursday.
    The U.S. embassy was alerted and Burditt was released Thursday, but must remain in Argentina while authorities carry out an investigation.
    Burditt made his comments flanked by his lawyer Carlos Villegas. Villegas backed his client's claim that it was a simple oversight, calling into question airport security in the United States.
    "There shouldn't be punishment precisely because of what he was just saying: there's no crime. If I don't know the guns exists... Which is to say there was no intent, no wilful misconduct. There's not even blame because what we have here is him forgetting, nothing more. That's the point of view here. In all this we have to think what's happening airport security here and in the United States," he said.
    Burditt was in Buenos Aires for a conference on slot machines, which he works on in Houston. He says he traveled with the same two bags on the flight to Buenos Aires.
    "Huge mistake for me, completely unintentional, no intention at all, but it happened, yes it did. Again, how it was to go through the Houston, I don't know, I'm sure they will go back and investigate and try to correct that," he added.
    He was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm. If convicted, he faces three-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half years in prison.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register