By Mark Maske and Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, March 13, 2005; Page E01

ATLANTA -- On what he considered to be an unusually slow afternoon at a Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport security checkpoint last October, security screener Alvin Spencer passed the time by placing his watch on the X-ray belt he was monitoring.

"Curiosity got the best of me, I guess," said Spencer, a federal employee of the Transportation Security Administration, "and I put my watch on the X-ray machine, just to see what it would look like."

A few moments later, the watch was gone. It would find its way into the hands of NFL quarterback Michael Vick, one of the league's biggest stars.

It took six days for Spencer to get the watch back. The tale of its disappearance would involve charges of a police coverup and the allegation of a $20,000 extortion attempt and pits the TSA against the Atlanta Police Department.

The unusual episode provides rare insight into what happens when a superstar athlete gets caught up in a potentially embarrassing incident.

Ultimately, a Falcons official, former NFL star Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, attempted to negotiate a financial settlement with Spencer on Vick's behalf over the missing watch, and no charges were filed. Atlanta police concluded the taking of the watch was a simple mistake that was handled correctly by its officers.

But Spencer and some in the TSA view the incident as an abuse of authority in which a police department pressured a theft victim into not filing charges to avoid embarrassing a city's football star.

Other than Spencer, most of the primary figures in the case declined to be interviewed for this story. Their version of events comes from interviews they gave to the Atlanta police's Office of Professional Standards, or internal affairs, which investigated the case after reporters brought the matter to its attention. A copy of the office's final report, which contained the interviews, was obtained by The Washington Post under a Georgia Open Records Act request. Vick refused to be interviewed by internal affairs and declined to comment for this story through the Falcons.

Spencer, 40, bought the watch, which has Rolex inscribed on its face, in Qatar last year. After having been one of the first security screeners hired by the TSA when it took over airport checkpoints in the fall of 2002, Spencer took a temporary leave from the agency to work in the Middle East for a security contractor and had purchased the watch, a few new suits and some rings, before returning to his TSA job in April.

The watch "was a symbol of what I had done while I was there," Spencer said. "Whether it's authentic or not, I don't know. It's sentimental to me."

The authenticity of the watch mattered little at about 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 12.

The Falcons were on their way to a successful season in which they reached the NFC championship game before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles. And Vick, 24, was en route to cementing his status as one of the sport's most dynamic, exciting and marketable players. He was the top overall selection in the 2001 NFL draft from Virginia Tech, and in December he signed a 10-year, $130 million contract extension with the Falcons that included $37 million in bonus money (beginning with a $7.5 million signing bonus and a $22.5 million bonus, reportedly due this month, for being on the roster).

October 12 was a Tuesday, the traditional day off for NFL players, and Vick, a spokesman for Orlando-based AirTran Airways, and the other members of his party were on their way to the carrier's afternoon flight to Newport News, Va., Vick's home town.

Surveillance camera videotapes of the security checkpoint taken that day show employees standing and waiting for passengers to enter the screening area, according to sources who have seen the tapes. Spencer is seen putting his watch in a screening bowl and laying it on the conveyor belt. Spencer is then called away by a colleague -- to attend a training session, Spencer said -- leaving the watch moving along the belt. Moments later, Vick and three traveling companions, one a toddler, pass through the checkpoint.

In police documents Vick identified the men as Quanis Phillips, a longtime friend of his whose criminal background includes a 1997 arrest for possession of stolen property and a guilty plea in 1999 to misdemeanor possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and Todd Harris, whom The Post could not locate.

Messages left for Phillips with his mother and sister were not returned.

The sources said the videos show one of Vick's companions pick up Spencer's watch off the end of the belt at Lane 19 and carry it to where the other man is standing being screened with a wand. The sources said that on the tape Vick is standing a few feet away not looking at the two men when the man with the watch shows it to the other man. The two are seen talking, the sources said, and then looking around. The second man then puts the watch in his pocket, the sources said. He then walks over to retrieve his bag, which is next to where Vick is standing, but does not show him the watch. The two men then wait briefly for Vick and the child before leaving the security area without them. Vick follows soon after with the child. Before Vick leaves the screening area, the sources said, the video shows him putting on a watch that is not Spencer's.

When he returned to the X-ray belt and found his watch missing, Spencer said he thought a co-worker had taken it as a practical joke. Spencer said he began quizzing co-workers.

Upon realizing that someone had taken the watch, Spencer reported the incident to his supervisor. A TSA incident report stated that the supervisor then pulled the videotape and found "what appeared to be the theft." The supervisor notified Atlanta police, who have a precinct in the airport, and Horace M. Hall, an officer stationed at the airport, was summoned.

Spencer said he, his supervisor, Hall and other screeners viewed the tape. Spencer said Hall filled out two forms and Spencer signed them, assuming they were part of a police report. "I figured the police would take it from there," Spencer said.

The case was turned over to investigator Donald T. Hannah, a 25-year veteran of the department who works out of a small, wood-paneled office in the precinct, which is tucked in a corner near a baggage claim carousel. Hannah said he met with Hall, who "advised me that a TSA employee's watch was stolen," according to the internal affairs report. Hall referred to the incident as "the theft" in the same report.

But a police report was never filed.

At issue is how active a role Hannah played in helping resolve the situation for Vick. Spencer said Hannah refused to file a police report and helped Johnson, the Falcons' director of player programs, pressure him to accept a financial settlement and keep the incident private. Hannah said he never took part in the negotiations and that Spencer said he did not want a police report filed.

Hannah said he made only one phone call to the Falcons on the day of the incident, which came as he and Spencer were walking into his office for their initial meeting. Hannah said that after talking briefly with Johnson, he put Spencer and Johnson on the phone together and that after the conversation Spencer said he did not want to file charges.

"When Mr. Spencer got off the phone, he advised me he did not need a police report [because] he and Mr. Johnson could work the thing out between them," Hannah said. A sergeant on duty that day corroborated Hannah's version to internal affairs.

Johnson said there were two phone calls. He said Hannah first called him to tell him about the missing watch. Johnson said he then called Vick, who confirmed he had the watch and said that it had been taken by mistake. Johnson said he called Hannah back later and told him the watch would be returned.

Spencer said Hannah told him he had already talked to Johnson. Hannah "asked me if Mr. Vick returned the watch to me the following morning, would I not keep the incident quiet," Spencer said.

Spencer said Johnson assured him that "if I kept it out of the press and if I kept Vick's name out of it I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Vick would just return my watch the next day. I agreed to it."

Spencer said as they were walking to the meeting, Hannah "explained to me that Vick was an upstanding guy. It was already hard on black people these days and if we could keep Vick's name out of it, it would be better."

Spencer and Hannah are black.

What happened later that day is also in dispute. Hannah said Johnson came to the airport, met with Spencer and offered him $450 for his trouble and lost work time. Hannah said Spencer responded that $450 "was an insult to his manhood and that he would have to sleep on it and get back with him the following day."

But Spencer and Johnson said there were no negotiations that day because Vick had agreed to return the watch the following morning.

Vick flew back to Atlanta but went to practice instead of meeting with Spencer that morning to return his watch, leaving Johnson to meet with Spencer and Hannah in the police precinct.

The three men differ in the size of the settlement discussed. Spencer said Johnson offered as much as $4,000. Hannah said Johnson agreed to pay Spencer as much as $1,000. Johnson said he never offered more than $450, which was done "out of the kindness of [Vick's] heart."

Hannah said he believed Spencer was "attempting to extort money from the Falcon organization" by increasing his financial demands to $20,000 and that Spencer became so upset at one point that he cried.

"I did tell him I would not tolerate extortion of any kind by him because he was attempting to extort $20,000 from Mr. Johnson and the Falcon organization," Hannah said.

But Spencer said that Hannah and Johnson pressed him to come up with an amount that would settle the issue. Spencer said he never cried but was anxious because he was late for work. Spencer said he threw out the $20,000 figure, knowing that he would be turned down, because he wanted the meeting to end.

"I said, 'I'm not looking for money. I want my watch,' " Spencer said. "They kept saying, 'Give us the figure. Give us the figure.' I just wanted to get out or get the paperwork [on filing charges] done."

Spencer denies the extortion charge. TSA officials defended Spencer and questioned why he was not arrested if indeed he was attempting to commit extortion in front of police.

Spencer "was not accused of any crime," said Yolanda Clark, a spokeswoman for the agency. "He went through the appropriate channels established to reclaim his watch back. The screener was the victim of having his property taken. That's the bottom line."

At some point, Vick joined the meeting by phone. Spencer said Vick did not seem eager to return the watch, although "I asked him did he have any intentions to bring me my watch and do you understand the watch is stolen?" Spencer said. "I couldn't get through to him that I wanted the watch back."

Hannah said he told Vick that he needed the names of the two men who had traveled with him, adding that they could be charged with a crime if there was probable cause. "Vick got agitated and said, '[Expletive] no, it was a mistake,' " Hannah said. Hannah said he gave the phone back to Johnson, who said that Vick indicated the two people with him were Harris and Phillips.

At one point, according to Spencer, Vick became upset and said that he didn't steal the watch. "What the [expletive] are you going to do, charge me with it?" Vick said, according to Spencer.

Spencer said it became clear to him that Vick would not be returning the watch that day. Spencer said he then told Hannah that he wanted to file charges. Spencer said Hannah opened a screen on his computer and began to type but said he would not put a case number on the police report. "Hannah said as long as there was no case number on it, it didn't exist," Spencer said. "It [the police investigation] was stalled to protect Vick's reputation."

The meeting, which had lasted more than four hours, according to Spencer, broke without a resolution.

Spencer indicated he was leaving to see his doctor, according to Hannah.

"The anxiety and the frustration hit me," Spencer said. "I knew I needed to get out of there. Whatever they were doing wasn't in my favor, and I needed to get out of there. I couldn't trust them anymore."

Spencer, who told internal affairs he has received medical treatment for anxiety for several years, said he did not return to work for several days because he did not want to face Hannah again.

Hannah said that Johnson got the watch back from Vick on Oct. 13 and gave it to Hannah the same day. Hannah said he kept an inventory report of the watch, along with the watch itself, locked in his desk until returning the watch to Spencer on Oct. 18, after several days of leaving messages for him but being unable to reach him.

All parties agree that Spencer did not receive any financial compensation.

The Falcons declined to comment on Johnson's handling of the incident or their policy on their employees providing compensation in such a matter. "It's our understanding that the situation has been resolved," said Reggie Roberts, the vice president of football communications.

Post reporters presented the allegations made by Spencer to the Atlanta police on Nov. 12. The police responded by launching the internal affairs investigation, which centered on Hannah's conduct. The investigation, which was closed Jan. 20, exonerated him.

Hannah told internal affairs that after he viewed the videotapes and interviewed witnesses, he concluded that the watch had been taken mistakenly. "During the course of my investigation, by viewing the video and interviewing the witnesses and talking to Mr. Vick, I concluded there was no intent to unlawfully appropriate the watch and the person who took the watch mistakenly thought the watch belonged to Mr. Vick," Hannah said.

Police said property is often mistakenly taken at the airport without a police report being filed.

Even those TSA officials who have viewed the tape and say it is unclear whether a crime was committed believe further investigation was warranted. Others in the agency who viewed the tape are adamant that it was not taken by mistake, citing the manner in which Vick's companions acted before pocketing the watch, and the fact that they made no attempt to give Vick the watch or ask if it was his, despite their close proximity.

Furthermore, TSA officials said that, as Hannah requested, they made a copy of the videotape available to the police, but it was never picked up. Hannah said the tape was never delivered to the police by the TSA. The officer conducting the internal affairs investigation obtained a copy of the tape but said he was unable to view it because it was not compatible with his equipment, according to the police.

In the end, the internal affairs investigation concluded that Hannah's conduct was "justified, lawful and proper."

Spencer disagrees.

"When you deal with people like that, you're supposed to be the victim," Spencer said. "I had been victimized, and I was being made out to be the bad guy."

Spencer said the incident didn't end for him when he got his watch back. People at the airport were gossiping that he had attempted to extort money from the Falcons, he said, and he hired an attorney to find out what he could do about the incident.

"I'm very bitter about it," Spencer said. "I tried to press charges. They were unwilling to press charges at the time. I had no avenue of pressing charges. There's people who work with me [who have] been caught stealing trivial stuff [and they're] under federal investigation. As far as me, I get washed out under the table and tried to be made to look as the bad guy."

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.