Serial stowaway, who snuck onto 30 flights, to stay in jail after latest court hearing
Marilyn Hartman, who has become notorious for sneaking on to at least 30 flights, will stay in jail for another month following her latest court hearing.
The 69-year-old, nicknamed the "Serial Stowaway", was arrested three weeks ago after she left the transitional-housing facility en route for Chicago O'Hare Airport, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities were tipped off that Ms Hartman was attempting to sneak on a flight at the airport because she was being electronically monitored. Her presence at O'Hare violated her terms of probation, which were set in 2019 after she was arrested at the Chicago airport for attempting to get through security without a boarding ticket.
"An alarm siren was activated on Hartman's device, and she was taken into custody by Chicago Police," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement about her latest attempt. "Hartman did not enter any secure areas."
She faces charges of criminal trespassing and felony escape and appeared in court on Friday. Since her arrest, Ms Hartman has remained in Cook County Jail.
Lawyers for Ms Hartman asked for more time to request a pre-trial release from the judge in order to get her out of jail. Her next trial date would be 3 May.
Ms Hartman has become notorious for her ability to sneak onto flights without a boarding pass or passport.
In an interview with CBS2 Chicago released in March, Ms Hartman estimated she has boarded at least 30 flights without a boarding pass. "The first time I was able to get through, I flew to Copenhagen. The second time, I flew into Paris," she said.
The ruse was not as well thought out as one might expect. Ms Hartman revealed that she was able to get through security simply by walking through.
"I was always let through. I mean I was able to go through the security line without a boarding pass," she told the local publication.
"I got by them, this is the thing that is so crazy, by following someone they would be carrying like a blue bag. And the next thing I know, I get into the TSA line and TSA lets me through, and they think I'm with the guy with the blue bag," she added.
Sneaking on flights first started for Ms Hartman in 2002 when she boarded a flight from Chicago to Copenhagen. That same year she travelled on another flight to Paris.
Ms Hartman avoided all security detection until August 2014 when she was caught attempting to board a flight from San Jose, California, to Las Vegas. At the time, a judge let her off with a warning, but then seven months later Ms Hartman was back to sneaking on flights.
The last international flight Ms Hartman attempted to board was a British Airways flight to London, costing $3,428. She boarded the flight but was already on the radar of TSA agents, so she was arrested and apprehended.
The CBS2 Chicago interview was the first Ms Hartman has done. She decided to do the interview after she "was confident that I wouldn't take an illegal flight again." But after the interview aired, she was found attempting to get through security at O'Hare.
Her lawyers have claimed the trip to O'Hare was spurred by a mental illness Ms Hartman suffers from, and it was triggered after the release of the CBS2 Chicago interview.
"She has a mental illness that was triggered by something out of her control," her lawyers told the judge, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Ms Hartman is currently being treated for bipolar disorder.
"When I took the plane ride, I wasn't happy. I wasn't 'Oh, I'm going here or there' – I was actually in a depressed state of mind," she told CBS2 Chicago. "I'm bipolar. And this is something I've rejected for years."
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