Update October 30, 2021 — Prosecutors have dropped the electronic monitoring escape charge.
A California man who lived inside the secured terminal areas of O’Hare International Airport for three months before police arrested him in January was found not guilty of criminal charges on Tuesday.
Judge Adrienne Davis found 37-year-old Aditya Singh not guilty in a directed verdict, meaning his defense attorneys did not have to present a case before Davis made her finding.
Singh still faces a separate charge of not complying with the terms of electronic monitoring while he was awaiting trial. That matter may wrap up during a hearing Friday.
Singh arrived at O’Hare on a flight from his home state of California on October 19 and then lived inside the airport until January 16 because he was afraid to fly due to COVID-19, prosecutors alleged.
His adventure ended after two United Airlines employees became suspicious and asked to see his work ID. Singh allegedly showed them airport credentials that were reported stolen by an O’Hare operations manager on October 26, prosecutors said.
The United workers notified police, and cops took Singh into custody.
Singh admitted that he found the airport credentials in Terminal 3 and said he survived “largely from other passengers giving him food,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kathleen Hagerty said.
“You’re telling me that an unauthorized, non-employee individual was allegedly living within the secure part of the O’Hare airport terminal from [October 19, 2020, to January 16, 2021] and was not detected?” Judge Susana Ortiz asked after hearing the allegations in January.
“That is correct, your honor,” Hagerty confirmed.
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