Police Report Reveals How Serial Stowaway Evaded Security At O'Hare
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A newly obtained Chicago Police Department report details how serial stowaway Marilyn Hartman managed to sneak past security at O'Hare International Airport in January, and board a plane to London without a ticket or passport.
According to a police report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Hartman "slipped past TSA document checkers" at an O'Hare checkpoint around 2 p.m. on Jan. 14, "as both TSA agents were busy checking other passengers."
"Hartman can be seen covering the left side of her face as she walked passed [sic] the TSA agents," the Hartman's arrest report stated.
Once she bypassed the TSA document check, Hartman passed through an X-ray screening, picked up her duffle bag off the X-ray machine belt, and went to Gate K2.
Around 2:50 p.m. Hartman tried to sneak onto an American Airlines flight bound for Hartford, Connecticut, but was denied entry by a gate agent.
Fast forward to 5:15 p.m., when Hartman left Gate K2 and walked to Gate K20, where shee walked downstairs to the shuttle bus boarding area.
An unknown pilot confronted her there, and she went back upstairs to the waiting area at the gate. A few minutes later, she joined a group of passengers and went back down to the shuttle bus area, where she boarded a bus to Terminal 5.
After arriving at Gate M5 around 5:45 p.m., she spent the night in the terminal.
The next day, Jan. 15, at about 4:50 p.m., she boarded a British Airways flight to London at Gate M12, despite not having a ticket or passport.
According to the police report, she "waited for the right opportunity when both gate agents seemed to be busy with other passengers before she made her move to slip past the gate agents undetected."
She was seen going around a large column to avoid being seen by a Customs and Border Patrol officer, and onto the jet bridge to the plane.
When Hartman arrived in London without a ticket or passport, she was arrested and sent back to Chicago, where she was charged with trespassing and theft. She was released on bond on Jan. 25, with a warning to stay away from airports, but was arrested at O'Hare again three days later, after allegedly trespassing once again.
Since then, a judge has refused to release Hartman on electronic monitoring at a shelter for homeless former inmates, stating he didn't trust the shelter could ensure she doesn't violate court orders again. The judge also has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for Hartman before she faces trial on the latest charges.
She is due back in court on Thursday, according to Cook County Jail records.
The Chicago Police Department declined a FOIA request to release surveillance video of Hartman sneaking past security, because it would expose security points at O'Hare.
