A California man was found hiding out for three months in the restricted area of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where he was afraid to fly due to the coronavirus.
According to police, Aditya Singh, 36, arrived at the airport on a flight from Los Angeles on October 19, and has since lived in the airport’s security zone without being discovered.
However, one afternoon, two employees of “United Airlines” approached Singh and asked to see his badge. It was discovered that the badge in his possession was reported missing on October 26, by the director of O’Hare airport operations. As a result, employees of United Airlines called the police and was detained.
The court charged Singh with criminal trespassing on a restricted area at the airport and theft.
Under Illinois state law, entering or remaining in a restricted area is a fourth-degree felony if an airport or airline employee’s identity card is incorrectly suspended.
Singh said he found the employee badge at the airport and was “afraid to go home because of COVID-19.”
Singh, who has a master’s degree in hospitality, is unemployed and lives in a Los Angeles suburb with no criminal background, according to Cook County Public Defense Assistant Courtney Smallwood.
