I love traveling more than I can ever put into words. The journey, to me, is far greater than the destination. Some airports have really awesome places to visit to get away from the noise in the terminal. A few of my favorites are the Singapore Airlines Private Room, The Club at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Delta Sky Club in Boston, and even the Admirals Club in Charlotte gets an honorable mention. Through all of my travel, I have never thought to myself, “I like this airport so much, I should stay here”. Well, there was a man who recently decided to channel his inner Tom Hanks at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Aditya Singh, from California, was arrested on Saturday after he was found to be living on the airside (restricted area) of the airport. He was only arrested after two United Airlines employees approached and asked him to provide his identification. Singh showed a badge that had been reported stolen months earlier.
He arrived at O’Hare on October 19, 2020 from Los Angeles and never left. The police stated that Singh claimed to be too afraid to fly back to California due to COVID-19. This makes no sense as he never made an attempt exit the airport upon arrival. He had a problem with California, not Illinois. An even crazier plot twist is other passengers gave him food during his terminal stay. Did anyone of them not think it was strange to be feeding a “homeless” man in the airport?
Judge Susana Ortiz channeling my energy, stated, “So if I understand you correctly, 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”. The judge continued, “The court finds these facts and circumstances quite shocking for the alleged period of time that this occurred. Being in a secured part of the airport under a fake ID badge allegedly, based upon the need for airports to be absolutely secure so that people feel safe to travel, I do find those alleged actions do make him a danger to the community”.
Singh was charged with felony criminal trespassing. He was then barred from the airport should he be able to post $1,000 USD bail.
Final Word
This entire story is beyond bizarre. Traveling through airports should be one of the most secure things we do. With restrictions on travel due to COVID and the heightened scrutiny placed on individuals, this person should not have been able to stay in the airport for so long. The passengers and airport staff did not use due diligence. I hope this is exactly as he says, but part of me feels this was part of something larger.
Featured image courtesy of The Daily Herald
