Woman Gropes TSA Agent's Breast at Security Checkpoint

Updated: Saturday, 16 Jul 2011, 2:31 AM EDT
Published : Friday, 15 Jul 2011, 9:09 PM EDT

Adapted for the Web by
myFOXPhoenix.com Staff

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PHOENIX - We hear a lot of complaints about security screeners groping airline passengers.

Yukari Miyamae allegedly groped a female TSA agent in Arizona

But now, a Colorado woman is accused of putting her hands on a TSA agent at Sky Harbor  International Airport in Phoenix. Court records show 61-year-old Yukari Mihamae grabbed the left breast of the female agent Thursday at the Terminal 4 checkpoint. Police say she squeezed and twisted the agent's breast with both hands. Officers say Mihamae admitted to the crime. There's no word why she touched the agent. Mihamae now faces a felony count of sexual abuse. According to court records, she lives in Longmont, Colorado and is self-employed.

No Felony Charges For Longmont Woman In TSA Groping Case

LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) – No felony charges will be filed against the Colorado woman who allegedly sexually assaulted a Transportation Security Administration agent in Phoenix. On Tuesday the Maricopa County district attorney decided to turn the case of Yukari Miyamae, 61, of Longmont over to city prosecutors. She could still be charged with a misdemeanor. Police say Miyamae grabbed the female agent’s left breast, squeezed and twisted it with both hands on July 14 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Miyamae was getting ready to board a flight from Phoenix to Denver. 

Yukari Miyamae (mug shot credit of Maricopa County Sheriff), TSA agents at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (credit: CBS)

Miyamae’s attorney Judd Golden says his client was violated, endangered and threatened by the actions of TSA agents. She denies doing anything wrong. Golden released a statement Tuesday, saying Miyamae is a self-employed translator, author and radio producer. He used the following words to describe how the situation unfolded: Ms. Miyamae says she told TSA agents she wanted to be screened by the metal detector gate. She did so out of concern for excessive radiation exposure from the full-body scanners, as she is a frequent business traveler. Her request was denied. She was soon surrounded by TSA agents. One TSA agent, a tall woman, approached Ms. Miyamae, who is only five feet tall. Ms. Miyamae felt panicked and experienced a volatile aversion to the TSA personnel violating her personal physical space. She felt endangered and threatened based upon prior traumatizing security pat-downs, repugnance at the prospect of being touched again in such a violent and undignified manner, and instinctively pushed the female TSA agent away. Golden says Miyamae is considering offers to do interviews but so far hasn’t committed to doing one.