Washington ( CNN ) -- TSA officers rescued a woman from two kidnappers as a group of travelers passed through a security checkpoint at Miami International Airport , the Transportation Security Administration said . In the July 5 incident , the two TSA behavior detection officers , trained to spot terrorists in passenger lines , noticed the 25-year-old woman trembling and trying to hide facial injuries at an airline ticket counter . The woman at first said she was fine , but later broke down crying and said she had been kidnapped , the TSA said . The officers separated the woman from her four travel partners , leading to her rescue and the arrest of two women in the group on kidnapping and other charges , the TSA said . `` Our officers recognized that the woman was in danger and acted immediately to protect her , '' said Mark Hatfield , the TSA 's federal security director for Miami International Airport . The incident was first reported Tuesday by Miami television station NBC 6 , a day before a congressional hearing on TSA screener misconduct . Several TSA officials said the timing of the news release was coincidental . Nonetheless , TSA Deputy Administrator John Halinski mentioned the kidnapping case as an example of good work being done by agency employees . TSA to speed flight attendants through security . `` We stopped a kidnapping basically though the quick thinking and the abilities of our BDO ( behavior detection officers ) , '' he told the committee . A North Miami Police Department report gave this account : . The incident began when the victim and four friends came to Miami from New Jersey to celebrate the Fourth of July . The following day -- July 5 -- the woman was alone at a Best Western hotel when her four friends returned from an outing , apparently intoxicated . While the victim was lying in bed , one woman accused her of having intimate relations with her boyfriend and `` began to violently punch her numerous times in the face . '' When the woman stopped punching her , a second woman punched her in the face several times . The victim locked herself in a bathroom , but her two attackers struck her again when she left the bathroom . The two other friends `` refused to get involved , '' the report says . The attackers took jewelry from her , took money from her purse and went to an ATM , where they withdrew money from the victim 's account , it says . The group took a taxi to the Miami airport , and while they were at a ticket counter , a TSA behavior detection officer noticed the victim 's injuries . The officer said that one woman `` did n't seem comfortable with the people she was traveling with , '' the TSA said in a statement . The victim at first said she was fine , but a TSA officer `` re-engaged the woman and she broke down crying and stated she was kidnapped , '' the statement said . `` The victim was pulled away by TSA Agents before reaching the travel document check point and Airport Police were called , '' the TSA said . Police questioned the woman 's four travel partners and arrested the two women . Police identified the women as Tori Beato , 19 , of Secaucus , New Jersey , and Melissa Pineiro , 25 , of North Bergen , New Jersey . Beato and Pineiro are charged with kidnapping , false imprisonment and related charges . Both have been released on bond , police said , and efforts by CNN to reach them were unsuccessful . Beato 's listed phone number was no longer in service , and Pineiro did not immediately return a call for comment . At Wednesday 's hearing on screener misconduct , the TSA defended its workforce , saying that most screeners behave professionally and that the agency works aggressively to weed out unprofessional workers . Deputy Administrator Halinski said criticism of the agency comes chiefly from the media , bloggers and politicians . Of the 600 million passengers screened every year , about 750,000 initiate contact with the TSA , and less than 8 % of them register complaints , he said . TSA : Eight Newark officers fired for violating procedures . `` When you look at the large number of passengers that are going through , I think that statistic speaks for itself , '' Halinski said . Rep. Mike Rogers , R-Alabama , chairman of the subcommittee , agreed that only a small subset of TSA workers are unprofessional , but he said the frequency of TSA misconduct `` is a symptom of a larger problem . '' `` In some cases , we 've seen poor screener performance going uncorrected or , even worse , being encouraged or covered up or by TSA management , '' he said , noting a 2011 case in which TSA employees at a Honolulu airport were failing to check baggage for explosives . `` TSA 's own federal security director was in on it , '' Rogers said . `` One of these cases is too many , but there have been others disturbing since then , including airports in southwest Florida , Philadelphia , JFK and Newark . '' Said Halinski : `` I 'm not saying we 're different from any other group of Americans . I 'm saying we 're exactly like any group of Americans . ''
Agency and crime detection officers found suspicious group at the airport . Officers separated nervous woman from her four travel partners , she says . Police report : Woman accused two other women in group of punching her , stealing her money . Pair charged with kidnapping , false imprisonment , other charges .