A US man lived inside the secure part of an international airport terminal for three months; because he was afraid to fly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
California local, Aditya Singh managed to go unnoticed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago from October 19, 2020 until January 16, 2021; allegedly using a misplaced security pass and living off other passengers giving him food.
After seemingly going unnoticed all that time, the 36-year-old man was confronted by two United Airlines employees on Saturday; who asked to see his security pass, according to CWB Chicago.
The pass he was allegedly using was reported missing on October 26 by an airport operations manager.
Mr Singh was arrested and taken into police custody.
According to his defence lawyer, the man arrived at O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 2 from Los Angeles on October 19 and admitted he found the pass in Terminal 3.
He claims he was afraid to fly home because of coronavirus; and said other passengers gave him food during his stay.
He was charged him with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and misdemeanor theft.
The judge who heard his matter said the allegations were “quite shocking;” and denied a request from his lawyers to let him finally fly home to have the matter heard in LA.
“I do find that those alleged actions make him a danger to the community,” Judge Susana Ortiz said before setting bail at $10,000; and ordering him to go onto electronic monitoring if he’s released from jail.
