(CNN) – A California man who was ‘afraid to go home because of Covid’, has been living unnoticed at O’Hare Airport in Chicago for three months, according to several reports.
Aditya Udai Singh, 33, was arrested Saturday morning local time in O’Hare and charged with embezzlement in a restricted area of the airport and theft of less than $ 500, Chicago police confirmed to CNN.
Singh was reportedly arrested after two United Airlines employees approached him to see his identification. According to him, he then showed an airport ID number that belonged to an operations manager who reported it missing at the end of October.
Assistant lawyer Kathleen Hagerty told the court Singh claimed he was “afraid to go home because of Covid” and that other passengers provided him with food, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The usually busy Chicago O’Hare airport has seen a sharp decline in passenger traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Cook’s judge Susana Ortiz was surprised by the unusual circumstances of the case, the newspaper reported.
‘So if I understand you correctly,’ Ortiz said, ‘you are telling me that an unauthorized, non-employee individual allegedly lived in a safe part of O’Hare Airport from October 19, 2020 to January 16. . 2021, and has not been detected? I want to understand you right. ‘
Deputy Public Defender Courtney Smallwood told the court that Singh is a resident of the Los Angeles suburb of Orange and does not have a criminal background, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Singh’s bail is said to have been set at $ 1,000, with the proviso that he will not re-enter O’Hare Airport, and will have to return to court on January 27.
CNN contacted Cook County’s State Attorney’s Office and the Department of Aviation in Chicago for comment.