"Serial stowaway" ordered to undergo psychiatric exam
CHICAGO - A judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a homeless woman with a history of trying to sneak onto planes after she was arrested three times in two weeks at Chicago's two international airports.
Cook County Judge William Raines on Thursday also ordered 63-year-old Marilyn Hartman to stay away from airports.
Police say Hartman, 63, was arrested Sunday, May 3 at Midway International Airport and charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing after she loitered near a checkpoint. She pleaded guilty to the same charge after being arrested April 24 for lingering in a restricted area near a ticketing counter inside O'Hare airport's international terminal. Court records show she was sentenced to a year of court supervision.
Hartman was also reportedly arrested April 22 for trespassing at O'Hare.
She is currently being held on $7,500 bond. CBS Chicago reports Hartman says she plans to stay behind bars pending trial because she says she doesn't have the money to make bail. She also says she's homeless and find airports safer than living on the streets.
Hartman has tried several times in recent years to board flights without tickets and has been arrested at least a dozen times. Last year alone, she was arrested at least six times for trying to board flights at San Francisco International Airport without a ticket, reports the station.
In August 2013, 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 pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 24 months probation and three days in jail.
The day after she was sentenced, Hartman was found again wandering around the terminals and Los Angeles International Airport and was arrested for violating terms of her probation, which prohibited her from entering the airport unless she had a valid ticket. She was sentenced to 177 days in jail but was released days later due to overcrowding.
A couple weeks after her release, she was arrested again, this time in Phoenix, for trying to get past an airport 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 this time, 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.