Woman On Probation For Trying To Sneak Onto Hawaii-Bound Flight Pleads Not Guilty To Charges
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A woman on probation for three failed attempts to sneak onto a flight to Hawaii was arrested at SFO a fourth time Monday and Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
Marilyn Jean Hartman, 62, was arrested inside a bathroom at the international terminal at SFO Monday afternoon, Rebecca Rosenblatt, San Mateo County Sheriff's Office public information officer, said Wednesday.
Although Hartman was not attempting to sneak onto a flight, she was disregarding a court order to stay away from the airport unless she possessed a legitimate airline ticket, Rosenblatt said.
This is Hartman's sixth recorded time being at the airport inappropriately, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Hartman was placed on probation on Feb. 27 after being arrested for attempting to board three Hawaii-bound flights on Feb. 15, 18 and 20, Wagstaffe said.
Following the February incidents, a San Mateo County Court commissioner placed Hartman on 18 months' probation after she pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor commercial burglary on Feb. 27.
But on March 18, Hartman was arrested on charges of trespassing and probation violation after being caught at the international terminal food court without a valid boarding pass or money to purchase an airline ticket, authorities reported.
Hartman was granted release with an August jury trial date.
Days later, she was arrested on March 26 in SFO's Terminal 3 baggage claim area for violating a restraining order. This time, Wagstaffe said she was sent for probation and was to return to court May 17 to hear the department's proposal on a plan to help her.
Monday's arrest forced the DAs office to charge her once again with trespassing and violating a court order. Hartman pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednes
day, Wagstaffe said, and bail was set at $25,000. She remains in the women's county jail facility.
Wagstaffe said that this latest arrest prompted a thorough interview by a detective, who found no evidence of any mental illness.
"This engenders in me a certain level of sympathy," Wagstaffe said when referring to Hartman's latest arrest. "She is well groomed, well spoken and articulateà she might just be a lonely person."
The district attorney said he does not believe that jail is the appropriate place for Hartman.
"Locking her up is not the answer. Our goal here is to find a place other than the airport where she can find what she's looking for," he said. "We need to get her connected with social services to get her the help she needs."
Prosecutors say that Hartman told authorities upon her arrest that she was suffering from cancer and desperately wanted to go somewhere warm. It has not been confirmed nor denied that Hartman suffers from the disease.
Hartman is scheduled to return to court on April 17 for a pretrial conference and a jury trial is scheduled for May 5 at 9 a.m.
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