CHICAGO – A California man who police say is too scared to fly because of COVID-19 has been hiding in a safe area of O’Hare International Airport for three months until his weekend arrest, prosecutors said. Sunday said.
Aditya Singh, 36, is charged with committing crimes to a restricted area of an airport and theft of misconduct.
In the federal court Sunday, prosecutors said Singh arrived at O’Hare on a flight from Los Angeles on Oct. 19 and has been living in the airport’s security zone without detection ever since.
Cook’s judge Susana Ortiz reacted in disbelief on Sunday after a prosecutor set out the allegations.
‘So if I understand you correctly,’ Ortiz said, ‘you are telling me that an unauthorized person without an employee 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. ‘
Early Saturday afternoon, two United Airlines employees approached Singh and asked to see his identification. Assistant lawyer Kathleen Hagerty said Singh lowered his face mask and showed them an airport ID badge he was wearing around his neck.
The badge actually belongs to an operations manager who reported it missing on October 26. The employees call 911. Police arrested Singh on Saturday morning in Terminal 2 near Gate F12.
Hagerty said Singh apparently found the license plate at the airport and was “afraid to go home because of COVID.” She told the judge other passengers were giving him food.
According to Assistant Public Defender Courtney Smallwood, Singh lives in the Orange suburb of Los Angeles with roommates and has no criminal background. She said he has a master’s degree in hospitality and is unemployed.
Smallwood acknowledged the circumstances were unusual, but noted that the allegations were not violent. It was unclear what brought Singh to Chicago and whether he had ties to the area.
As a bail condition, Ortiz Singh was barred from stepping foot in the airport again if he could put the $ 1,000 he needed for his release. He is due to appear in court again on January 27.
“The court finds these facts and circumstances quite shocking for the alleged period in which they took place,” the judge said. ‘Because he believes in a secure part of the airport under a false ID number, based on the need for airports to be absolutely safe so that people can feel safe to travel, I find the alleged conduct a danger to him for the community. ‘