A Chicago man who lived inside Chicago O’Hare International Airport for three months out of fear of COVID-19 was acquitted of trespassing charges.
37-year-old Aditya Singh garnered media attention after he was arrested for allegedly living inside the airport without being detected.
He was eventually charged with felony criminal trespassing and misdemeanor theft. But what’s more puzzling is that he claimed he was too scared to board his flight home to India because of the pandemic, so he stayed inside the airport for months.
The Associated Press reported that Cook County Judge Adrienne Davis acquitted Singh on the trespassing charge this week.
Singh’s attorney did not have a lot to say to defend his client on the trespassing charge. Singh still faces an escape charge for allegedly violating electronic monitoring conditions after he was released on bond, Complex reported.
Singh was in the U.S. getting his Master’s degree. He was supposed to return home on Oct. 19, 2020, but decided to remain at the airport.
It wasn’t until Jan. 16 that he was arrested after two United Airlines employees asked him to see some identification. Apparently, he had stolen an airport ID badge that he found and admitted to the theft. However, an investigation by TSA found that he did not violate airport regulations during his time staying there.
Singh said he was afraid to fly because of the pandemic and survived off the kindness of strangers, who he says paid for his food. He also spent time talking to strangers about his religious beliefs.
“Mr. Singh did not breach or improperly enter secured areas—he arrived there like tens of thousands of arriving passengers do every day, by stepping off a plane,” aviation department spokesperson Christine Carrino told the Tribune earlier this year. “While we won’t speculate on Mr. Singh’s motivations, he decided to remain in the secure area and made every effort to blend in as a passenger and airline employee until his arrest.”
