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.
Alvin Spencer, a security screener at Atlanta's international airport, with his watch, which went missing for six days in October. The watch came into the possession of Michael Vick.
(Photos Erik S. Lesser For The Washington Post)
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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."
