Judge Orders Psychiatric Exam For Serial Stowaway
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A homeless woman who has been arrested several times for trying to sneak past security checkpoints at multiple airports – and even managing to sneak on board at least three different flights without a ticket – has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before her next court date.
Marilyn Hartman appeared before a Cook County judge on Thursday, on trespassing charges after she was arrested three times in two weeks, after she allegedly tried to sneak past security checkpoints at O'Hare and Midway airports three times in the past few weeks.
Prosecutors said she was arrested for trespassing at O'Hare International Airport twice in three days – on April 22 and April 24 – and then arrested at Midway International Airport on May 3.
Judge William Raines set Hartman's bail at $7,500, but she said she wants to stay in jail and go to trial, as she doesn't have the $750 she'd need to be released.
Hartman said she's homeless, and finds airports safer than living on the streets.
Raines ordered Hartman to be given a psychiatric evaluation at the hospital at Cook County Jail before her next hearing, to determine her ability to stand trial.
Hartman has been arrested at least a dozen times before on similar charges.
Last year alone, she was arrested at least six times for trying to board flights at San Francisco International Airport without a ticket.
In August 2014, she managed to sneak onto a flight from San Jose to Los Angeles, where she was arrested when the plane landed. In that case, she was sentenced to 24 months' probation and three days in jail, after pleading guilty. She was ordered to stay away from Los Angeles International Airport unless she had a valid ticket.
The next day, however, she was found wandering around the terminals at LAX, and was arrested again. She was sentenced to 177 days in jail for violating her probation, but was released just days later due to overcrowding at the jail.
A couple weeks later, she was arrested in Phoenix for trying to get past a security checkpoint without a ticket.
In February, she allegedly boarded a flight from Minnesota to Florida without a ticket, and then used a false name to get into an upscale resort near Jacksonville. She was charged with fraud and trespassing.
"She's been convicted in California on three different similar charges, criminal trespass. She was placed on probation. One charge was actually a burglary," said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Coleman. "She has a conviction from Arizona from 2014 also … for similar behavior; criminal trespass at an airport. She has a warrant from Hawaii in 2010."
If Hartman does manage to post bail, the judge ordered her not to go to any airports in Illinois, and said she would need permission from the court if she does need to fly.
Hartman, 63, is homeless, and in the past has visited Pacific Garden Mission, a homeless shelter in the South Loop. She also attended Chicago Vocational High School.
If convicted of the trespassing charges, she would face a maximum punishment of 364 days in jail.
