14 DAY TRIAL // An air marshal has been charged with disorderly conduct after being caught taking photos up women's skirts.
28-year-old Adam Bartsch was arrested on Thursday at Nashville International Airport in Tennessee on Thursday. A male passenger noticed that he was using his phone to capture an inappropriate shot.
Rey Collazo realized what Bartsch was doing as passengers were boarding on Southwest flight No. 3132, and he took the smartphone away.
"I just reached over with my left hand and grabbed it, struggled with him a little bit and I got the better part of the phone and twisted and hit him with my right hand between the neck and the shoulder. Shoved him back and I took the phone," Collazo tells News 2.
At that point, he had no idea that the man was an air marshal. Bartsch was even on duty, officials say.
"I looked at the guy and said, 'Excuse me, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. A disgrace to a human being, to a man, that's wrong,'" Collazo adds.
After being confronted, Bartsch admitted to snapping 10 to 12 pictures up female passengers' skirts. He also confessed to doing so more than a dozen other times.
"TSA does not tolerate criminal behavior. The agency immediately removed this individual from his current duties and is in the process of suspending or terminating his employment. TSA continues to assist with the investigation," the TSA says.
Bartsch has been arrested, booked into Metro jail and released after posting bond. He is married and lives in Maryland with his wife and child.
"We turned the matter over to local law enforcement and the passenger did not travel as scheduled. The rest of the passengers and crew continued on to Tampa as scheduled," a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines says in a statement.