The 36-year-old was charged with the felony of criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and the misdemeanour of theft, reports the Chicago Tribune.
In court on Sunday, prosecutors said that Singh had arrived at O’Hare on a flight from Los Angeles on the 19 October. Since then, he had allegedly stayed in the airport’s secure zone without detection.
The presiding judge, Susana Ortiz, reacted with disbelief at the allegations:
“If I understand you correctly, you’re telling me that an unauthorized, nonemployee individual was allegedly living within a secure part of the O’Hare airport terminal from 19 October, 2020, to 16 January, 2021, and was not detected? I want to understand you correctly.”
On Saturday, 16 January, two employees of United Airlines approached Singh and asked to see his airport ID. Prosecutors claim Singh lowered his face mask and showed them the badge which he was wearing around his neck.
However, the badge belonged to an operations manager and had been reported missing on 26 October 2020. Singh claimed to have found the badge at the airport and was too “scared to go home due to COVID”.
Before his airport stay, Singh had been living with room-mates in Orange, Los Angeles, and had no criminal background. Singh is now barred from entering O’Hare International Airport and must post $1,000 bail for his release.
He is due back in court in 27 January.
