Woman arrested with blackjack at airport appears in court

Tampa, Florida - Rafaela Mendez was arrested after TIA police found a blackjack in her carry-on bag.

An airport spokeswoman tells us that when police asked her what she was doing carrying the bat-like, leather covered stick through the passenger screening area, she told them it was "to smack men's hands when they got fresh."

Mendez was booked into the Orient Road Jail and charged with carrying a concealed weapon. The incident took place at around 4 a.m. at Airside C, no word on where Mendez was travelling to.

She appeared before a judge in Hillsborough County. He released her on her own recognizance.

According to Answers.com - a blackjack is a "leather-covered bludgeon with a short, flexible shaft or strap, used as a hand weapon."