LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles news anchor Lu Parker was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing a pair of headphones from a passenger-screening area at Los Angeles International Airport.
Frances Louise Parker, 48, of West Hollywood, was taken into custody about 7 a.m. at a Transportation Security Administration screening area in Terminal 6, according to Airport Police Officer Rob Pedregon. She was taken to the Los Angeles Police Department Pacific Station to be booked on suspicion of petty theft, he said.
Pedregon said Airport Police were called to the screening area on a report of "lost property."
"The suspect was located, the property was recovered and the victim executed a private person's arrest," Pedregon said.
According to TMZ.com, Parker -- the 1994 Miss USA pageant winner -- took a pair of headphones valued at $200 from the TSA screening area and then walked to her gate and boarded her flight. The headphones were owned by an LAPD Robbery-Homicide detective, according to TMZ, which reported that Parker was taken of the plane by police.
Parker, a midday news anchor on KTLA and former girlfriend of then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has since been released.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, KTLA officials called the situation a misunderstanding. According to the station, Parker was en route to visit her ailing father and when she went through TSA security, she noticed that someone had left a set of earbud headphones behind.
"She picked them up intending to return them to the owner whom she had been speaking with while in line to clear TSA," according to the station. Parker was unable to find the owner and boarded her flight.
"We believe this is a misunderstanding, Lu is cooperating fully with the authorities and we are confident she will be able to clear this all up," station officials said.
