Man found living in Chicago airport for three months 'due to fear of Covid'

According to multiple reports, a man has been living in a certain section of Chicago's international airport for three months, apparently telling police he was too afraid of coronavirus to return home to Los Angeles, Report mentions, citing RIA Novosti.

The 36-year-old man, Californian Aditya Singh, was arrested this weekend and charged with criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport, a felony, and theft, a misdemeanor, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Prosecutors said on Sunday that, according to police, the man arrived on a flight from Los Angeles to O'Hare international airport on 19 October. Nearly three months later, on Saturday afternoon, Singh was approached by two United Airlines employees who asked to see identification. Singh allegedly showed them an airport ID badge that had been reported missing by its owner, an airport operations manager, on 26 October.

Assistant state attorney Kathleen Hagerty told Cook County judge Susana Ortiz that other passengers had been giving food to Singh, who does not have a criminal background. Hagerty said Singh had found the badge in the airport and was "scared to go home due to Covid."

After finding Singh, the United Airlines employees called 911. Police took him into custody on Saturday morning.

Singh has a master's degree in hospitality, is unemployed, and lives with roommates in Orange, Los Angeles, according to assistant public defender Courtney Smallwood.

"The court finds these facts and circumstances quite shocking for the alleged period that this occurred," said Ortiz. "Being in a secured part of the airport under a fake ID badge allegedly, based upon the need for airports to be secure so that people feel safe to travel, I do find those alleged actions do make him a danger to the community."

Singh's bail was set at $1,000. Should he be able to post bail, he is barred from entering the airport.