Serial Stowaway Arrested Twice In 10 Days, At O'Hare And Midway
Updated 05/06/15 - 6:03 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A serial stowaway recently was has been busted again, having been arrested twice in a span of 10 days in Chicago; once at O'Hare International Airport, and again at Midway International airport.
Marilyn Hartman, a former Chicago resident who is now homeless, was arrested on April 24 for trying to sneak past security to get on a plane at O'Hare, according to Chicago police. Police said she was seen loitering near a ticket counter in the International Terminal, and sources said she never made it past a security checkpoint.
Police said Hartman, 63, was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing. She was released from custody after a court appearance on April 25, but then was arrested again on May 3, after she was found loitering at a security checkpoint at Midway International Airport. She was charged with another count of criminal trespassing, and held at Cook County Jail for violating her previous bond.
She was due back in court on Wednesday, according to Cook County Sheriff's records.
Hartman has been arrested nearly a dozen times before the latest incidents for trying to sneak onto planes, or get through restricted areas at various airports without a ticket.
Since leaving Chicago more than a decade ago, Hartman reportedly has been homeless, and bouncing around several West Coast cities.
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.
Hartman reportedly used to work for a Chicago law firm in the early 2000s, but after her arrests last year said she is homeless, with only a few dollars to her name.
CBS 2 Security Consultant Ross Rice says every minute security is tied up with someone like Hartman, it's minutes they're not focusing on other issues.
"Someone like that could be a distraction, not only to the passengers going through the screening process but to the TSA agents that are trying to work, but more importantly, that could be a precursor to an attempt to breach security," Rice said.