An allegedly drunken man who authorities say posed as a security screener at San Francisco International Airport long enough to direct a couple of women into a private booth for pat-downs is a private-equity executive with a big-time international resume.

Eric McLean Slighton, 53, who has addresses in both San Francisco and Hong Kong, was arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness following the bizarre episode at the A-side security checkpoint of the International Terminal about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to law enforcement sources.

The episode has raised disturbing questions about how an inebriated civilian could dress in an outfit that vaguely resembles the one worn by SFO's private security screeners and pass himself off as the real thing.

It's also raising questions about Slighton himself, a longtime executive with international equity firms who, according to his father, beat a drinking problem years ago.

Law enforcement sources tell us the incident started when Slighton entered the security area wearing khaki pants and a blue polo shirt - an outfit that might have been mistaken for those worn by screeners with the Covenant security firm.

In fact, according to one source, Slighton was filmed by a surveillance camera milling about with other security screeners for about 40 minutes, and at one point helped himself to a pair of the blue, disposable gloves that the workers wear.

Eventually, Slighton steered a woman into one of the private screening booths used to pat down selected passengers, our sources say. What happened inside isn't known, because the woman, who was Asian, soon disappeared to catch an international flight. A few minutes later, Slighton allegedly directed a second woman toward the booth, our sources say. This time, however, he caught the attention of real screeners, who figured something was wrong because male screeners are prohibited from taking women into the booth for a pat-down without a female screener also being present.

Covenant screeners detained Slighton until San Francisco police officers arrived. Because officers couldn't find any women who had actually entered the booth with the fake screener, they booked Slighton only for alleged public drunkenness.

If investigators can track down the alleged victims, however, Slighton could face more serious charges.

Finance background

At the time he was detained, Slighton was carrying business cards from Aktis Capital Singapore, a private equity firm where he is listed as one of four partners.

Before joining Aktis, according to the company's website, he was managing director of Barclays Capital in Hong Kong and Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong - where he was "charged with transforming the bank's Asia branch business into an international investment banking franchise."

Neither Slighton nor executives at Aktis could be reached for comment.

The suspect's father, Robert Slighton, contacted in New York, told us he was "extremely shocked" by the allegations.

"There was a time in the past when he had a drinking problem, but that was 10 years ago," he said. "To the best of my knowledge, he doesn't drink at this time and he doesn't drink when he comes here."

Robert Slighton said his son was supposed to be boarding a flight to Hong Kong at the time he was detained.

"I am shocked he is associated with something like this," he said.

'Someone has to pay'

Besides facing the public drunkenness charge, authorities say, Eric Slighton could be booked on other counts, such as false imprisonment. However, the case has largely gone hush-hush since the federal Transportation Security Administration, which oversees airport security, took over the investigation into how the breach happened.

A TSA spokesman in Washington would say only that officials "are aware of the alleged incident and cooperating with law enforcement" to get to the bottom of it.

"They will be (investigating) this for a week," said one law enforcement source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak about the case. "Someone has to pay for this."

As for Slighton, he was released from San Mateo County Jail on $10,000 bail. He has not been charged, pending a report to prosecutors from the Sheriff's Office.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross typically appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.