Woman steals $12,000 of luggage at Louisville airport — and returns for more, cops say

A Louisville woman who has previous theft convictions is now accused of stealing people’s luggage from the Louisville airport, according to police.

Carrie L. Welch, 33, went to Muhammad Ali International Airport on Feb. 2, when she and another woman stole two bags of luggage, police said. The luggage and its contents, which included jewelry, were worth more than $12,000, according to police.

Police say Welch returned 12 days later, on Feb. 14, and took luggage that was valued at $9,999.

Welch was captured on surveillance video during both incidents and was identified by a Louisville police officer, police said in an arrest citation.

A warrant was issued for Welch’s arrest, and she was taken into custody when she returned to the airport Feb. 21, WDRB reported.

She has been charged with two counts of theft, court records show.

Welch faces previous theft-related charges and has been convicted of similar charges, according to court records.

Last month, Welch was charged with shoplifting after she was spotted going into a restroom at a Kroger grocery store in Louisville with a shopping basket, according to an arrest citation. When she left the restroom, police found $31.71 worth of merchandise in her overstuffed purse, the citation says.

Welch also faces a charge of receiving stolen property after Louisville police in October said she was driving a stolen car.

She was sentenced in 2015 to serve a year in prison after she used stolen credit cards to make purchases of more than $500, according to court and police records.

Welch was found guilty of shoplifting from a Louisville Walmart in 2016, when she exited the store with $229 worth of merchandise, police said.

“(She) stated she was going to steal the items then return them to get an in-store merchandise card,” police stated in an arrest citation.

In a 2018 conviction, Welch left a Quality Inn hotel in Louisville without paying, police said. She had two rooms rented in her name for three days — worth more than $680 — and left when her credit card was declined, according to court records.

She was also found guilty in 2018 of stealing $40.43 worth of items from a Louisville Meijer grocery store, court records show.

Welch is being held in the Louisville jail on a $2,500 bond.