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Nam Y. Huh / AP
A California man who police say claimed to be too scared to fly due to Covid-19 hid for three months in a secure area of O’Hare International Airport until his arrest over the weekend. (File photo)
A California man who police say claimed to be too scared to fly due to Covid-19 hid for three months in a secure area of O’Hare International Airport until his arrest over the weekend, prosecutors said Sunday.
Aditya Singh, 36, is charged with a felony trespassing in a restricted area of an airport and a misdemeanor theft.
In local court on Sunday, prosecutors said Singh arrived at O’Hare on a flight from Los Angeles on Oct. 19 and has allegedly lived in the airport’s security zone ever since, undetected.
Local judge Susana Ortiz reacted in disbelief Sunday after a prosecutor detailed the allegations.
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“So, if I understand you correctly,” Ortiz said, “you are telling me that an unauthorized and not employed person allegedly lived within a secure portion of the O’Hare airport terminal from October 19, 2020 until October 16 January 2021, and it was not detected? I want to understand you correctly. “
On Saturday afternoon, two United Airlines employees approached Singh and asked to see his identification. Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hagerty said Singh pulled down his mask and showed them an airport identification badge that he wore around his neck.
The plaque actually belonged to an operations manager who had reported her missing on October 26. Employees called 911. Police detained Singh on Sunday morning.
Hagerty said Singh allegedly found the plate at the airport and was “scared to go home because of Covid.” She told the judge that other passengers were giving her food.
Singh lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Orange with roommates and has no criminal record, according to assistant public defender Courtney Smallwood. She said she has a master’s degree in hospitality and is unemployed.
Smallwood acknowledged that the circumstances were unusual, but noted that the allegations were not violent. It was unclear what brought Singh to Chicago and if he has ties to the area.
As a condition of bail, Ortiz prohibited Singh from ever setting foot in the airport if he can afford the $ 1,000 he needs for his release. You must return to court on January 27.
“The court finds these facts and circumstances quite shocking for the alleged period of time in which this occurred,” the judge said.
“Being in a safe part of the airport with a fake ID card supposedly, based on the need for airports to be absolutely safe so that people feel safe when traveling, I think those alleged actions make it a danger to community”.
-Chicago Tribune
