Man lived in O’Hare airport for months because he was afraid to go home, officials say
A California man lived in O’Hare airport in Chicago for three months because he said he was afraid to fly home because of the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors say.
Aditya Singh, 36, arrived at the airport on a flight from Los Angeles on Oct. 19 and never left, prosecutors said Sunday in bond court, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Singh lived in the airport’s security zone without being detected until his Jan. 16 arrest, according to the newspaper. He was reportedly “scared to go home due to COVID,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kathleen Hagerty said.
Prosecutors say two United Airlines staff members approached Singh Sunday morning and asked to see his work identification, CWB Chicago reported.
He showed them a badge that was hanging around his neck — a badge that an airport operations manager had reported missing on Oct. 26, according to the outlet. Singh is said to have found it on the ground, per the Tribune.
Hagerty said Singh survived “largely from other passengers giving him food,” CWB Chicago reported.
Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz seemed surprised by the allegations.
“So if I understand you correctly,” Ortiz said, the Tribune reported, “you’re telling me that an unauthorized, non-employee individual was allegedly living within a secure part of the O’Hare airport terminal from Oct. 19, 2020, to Jan. 16, 2021, and was not detected? I want to understand you correctly.”
“That is correct, your honor,” Hagerty confirmed, according to CWB Chicago.
Transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman called the situation an extraordinary feat.
“It shows how things can slip through the cracks,” he told WMAQ. “You get an idea at the airport and can go weeks without being detected. It’s really remarkable that in this day and age and security, this occurred.”
In a statement on the incident, the Chicago Department of Aviation said that safety is its highest priority.
“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,” the department said, according to WMAQ. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners on a thorough investigation of this matter.”
Schwieterman echoed the department, explaining that Singh posed no real risk to security but that the incident highlights how different departments “may not talk to each other, question each other,” WMAQ reported. “A lot of people no doubt look back and are embarrassed, gate agents, that probably saw this individual,” Schwieterman added.
Singh — who has a master’s degree in hospitality — lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Orange with roommates and has no criminal background, prosecutors said, according to the Tribune. He’s charged with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and misdemeanor theft, the newspaper reported. He’s due back in court Jan. 27.
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 7:30 AM with the headline "Man lived in O’Hare airport for months because he was afraid to go home, officials say."