Aditya Singh, charged with felony criminal trespass and misdemeanor theft, said he was too afraid to fly.
According to prosecutors, a man managed to live inside Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for three months without getting detected because he was too afraid to fly due to Covid-19 until his weekend arrest.
Aditya Singh, 36, was charged with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and misdemeanor theft. The police said that Singh arrived at O’Hare from Los Angeles on October 19 and had lived in the airport’s zone ever since. Police also stated that Singh claimed he was too afraid to fly back home to California due to Covid-19.
Two United Airlines employees spotted Singh on Saturday and asked him for credentials. He allegedly showed them a badge that an operations manager had reported missing in October. The employees called 911 and Singh was taken into custody around 11:10 am.
Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz on Sunday after hearing the allegations said: “So if I understand you correctly, you’re telling me that an unauthorized, nonemployee individual was allegedly living within a secure part of the O’Hare airport terminal from October 19, 2020, to January 16, 2021, and was not detected? I want to understand you correctly.”
The judge ruled a condition bail that barred Singh from setting foot in the airport but he could be released if he paid $1,000. He is due back in court on January 27.
A statement released by the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) said: “While this incident remains under investigation, we have been able to determine that this gentleman did not pose a security risk to the airport or to the traveling public. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners on a thorough investigation of this matter.”
