In a bizarre story, a Southern California man has been arrested for allegedly posing as a U.S. Marshal to slip past airport security and “deport” a distant relative’s pregnant wife to the Philippines.
Believe it or not, it gets even weirder.
Keep reading to find out all the details, including how this man managed to get past three Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.
The 37-year-old Gregory Denny reportedly showed up at the home of his distant cousin, Craig Hibbard, wearing a U.S. Marshal shirt and brandishing a fake badge and pellet gun.
Denny informed the couple that he was deporting Hibbard’s wife, Cherrie Belle, who was five months pregnant.
Hibbard and his wife have been married for three years, but she had recently canceled her green card after an argument with her husband. The couple claimed that they had since smoothed things out, but Cherrie Belle’s green card status is still uncertain.
Denny then proceeded to handcuff Cherrie Belle and drive her to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection station, where officials told him that they could not take her into custody because there was no warrant for her in their system.
At that point, Denny doubled back to the Hibbards’ home and convinced Craig to go online to buy his wife a plane ticket bound for the Philippines.
Denny then drove Cherrie Belle to San Diego International Airport, where he escorted her through security with his false credentials.
Buried in this bizarre melodrama is the fact that a man was able to impersonate a government official to escort a falsely imprisoned person through airport security.
Get tips on safer travel with Travel Safety & Security Tips on The Early Show.
According to a TSA spokesperson, the supervisor on duty followed law enforcement procedures and will be given additional training on how to spot fraudulent credentials. But nobody has been disciplined for the breach.
A statement released by Denny’s attorney claims that neither Hibbard nor his wife complained or raised any protests throughout the entire ordeal. Hibbard said that he believed Denny the whole time and kept quiet out of fear of arrest.
But according to the statement, Denny believes the incident is one big “misunderstanding” and an investigation will reveal the facts.
Police suspect that Denny was operating under the idea that the family wanted Cherrie Belle to be deported, and that he was doing them a favor.
Denny, who was once a bounty hunter for a bail bond company, has been released on a $50,000 bond and is set for a February 16 court date. Meanwhile, Cherrie Belle is in the Philippines with no legal way to return.
By Dan Bence for PeterGreenberg.com.
Related Links: Southwest Riverside News Network, ABC Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times
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