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TIA Passenger Jailed After Box Cutter Found In Book

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 21, 2008

TAMPA - A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport last weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said.

If convicted, Benjamin Baines Jr. faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for a federal charge of attempting to board an airplane with a concealed dangerous weapon. He is serving a 30-day sentence after pleading guilty Monday to a state misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Baines' backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration.

When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside, the report said.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book, reports said. Later, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates, authorities said.

Officers said Baines told them he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.

Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.

Several sheets of paper in the backpack included rap lyrics that referred to police, narcotics, weapons and killing, officers said. Baines told officers he is a rapper who writes his own lyrics and that rap music writers need to "play the part," the federal report said.

Officers performed a background check and found no criminal record.

Baines was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and booked into Orient Road Jail. At his first appearance in court Monday, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to an employee with the Hillsborough County clerk of court. He remained in Orient Road Jail on Wednesday.

On Sunday, the U.S. attorney's office filed a federal charge of attempting to board an aircraft with a concealed dangerous weapon.

Baines will be arrested by U.S. marshals upon completion of his jail sentence for the state charge, said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Tampa.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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