Go back and read the story again. These were something like bags 4-7. They were oversized and overweight. DL stated in the article that there are fees for exceeding number of bags, size, and weight. Each bag limitation exceeded garners a bag fee. So, if it is bag #6, it is overweight, and oversized, there will be 3 fees attached to the one bag. Just the number of bags alone would move the fees up to the $1000 neighborhood. The article said that exceeding two bags costs $125 for the third bag and $200 per bag for any bags over three. So, if there were 7 bags, the fees just for having too many bags would be $925.00.
It takes some time to get through security and get to an airplane at Sea-Tac. And, no one noticed unattended bags for that long? No, that's the part of the story that sounds fishy. It is made clear to everyone working at the airport that they are to be on the lookout for unattended bags.
Granted getting the Thousands Standing Around to do something about unattended bags is another issue. One day at TPA, I noticed several bags sitting in the boarding area for quite some time with no one around them. I notified TSA which was just around the corner from the bags. 20 minutes later I went to a TPA gate agent for US Airways (the bags were at one of their gates) and told him. He and a couple of other agents were on those bags like white on rice. They called the police and were surrounding the bags while the police did a cursory examination prior to moving the them. A woman walked up all indignant that people were messing with her bags. Policeman dressed her down for leaving the bags. She tried to argue with the policeman about her "right" to go get something to eat. Mistake.