Energy Department official charged in Las Vegas airport luggage theft out of job

A former federal official accused of stealing luggage in Las Vegas is no longer with the Department of Energy, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

Samuel Otis Brinton, the former deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition, faces one charge of grand larceny.

A warrant was still outstanding Tuesday for Brinton’s arrest.

Brinton is suspected of stealing a woman’s luggage on July 6 at Harry Reid International Airport.

On Nov. 29, a Metro officer saw a news article that named “Samuel Brinton” as a suspect in a Sept. 16 theft at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Several news articles included photos of Brinton, and a Metropolitan Police Department officer recognized Brinton as the suspect from the surveillance footage of Reid airport, according to the warrant from Metro.

Brinton was caught on video surveillance at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport taking a blue bag belonging to someone else off a baggage carousel.

Brinton returned to the airport on Sept. 18 and checked the bag for a flight back to Washington, D.C., according to a complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court in Minnesota.

The victim told police the bag and its contents were worth $2,325. Brinton was later captured on video surveillance at Washington Dulles Airport with the victim’s bag.

Police called Brinton, who said, “If I had taken the wrong bag, I am happy to return it, but I don’t have any clothes for another individual. That was my clothes when I opened the bag,” according to the complaint.

Brinton called back about two hours later. Brinton realized the wrong bag was taken after getting back to the hotel. Brinton thought people would think the bag was stolen and didn’t know what do.

Brinton took the clothes out of the bag and left them in the hotel, according to the complaint.

Brinton faces a charge of felony theft and is due in court in Minnesota on Feb. 15.

A spokesperson for the department said Friday that Brinton was on leave, but when reached Tuesday, officials would not confirm when Brinton stopped working.

“By law, the Department of Energy cannot comment further on personnel matters,” a spokesperson wrote in a message Tuesday.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter. Review-Journal staff reporter David Wilson contributed to this report.