Serial stowaway attempter is charged with trespassing at Chicago airports
A 63-year-old retired legal secretary who repeatedly made headlines within the last year as she was charged with airport-related trespasses and stowaway attempts in multiple states is back in the news again.
Marilyn Hartman, who at last report was being dealt with by authorities in Florida after allegedly checking into another woman’s resort hotel room, is now in Chicago.
She was arrested at O’Hare International Airport by Chicago police on April 24 and charged with misdemeanor trespassing, accused of loitering at the airport without a ticket near a restricted area, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News. After an April 25 court hearing she was released.
Then on May 3 she was found loitering near a security checkpoint at the city’s Midway International Airport, police said, and again charged with trespassing. Since then she has been held at the Cook County jail for violating her bond in the prior case, reports CBS Chicago. A court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Last year, Hartman was in hot water with authorities in Arizona and California, charged not only with trespassing at airports but actually taking one California flight, although she had no ticket. At the time, she was on probation for prior stowaway attempts and under a California court order not to be at airports except as a ticketed passenger.
However, she was soon released despite a nearly six-month jail sentence for violating her probation, due to overcrowding in the state’s jails.
The Florida case against Hartman was not prosecuted because she was determined to be unfit to stand trial, First Coast News reported last month.
Reported details are minimal about what happened concerning the April 24 trespassing charge against Hartman in Chicago. She appeared in court on April 25, but authorities weren’t able to provide details about the case, according to the Chronicle and the Mercury News.
Hartman is a former Chicago area resident, CBS Chicago says, and reportedly worked for a Chicago law firm over a decade ago.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “On probation for stowaway attempts, woman flew from San Jose to LA sans ticket, officials say”
ABAJournal.com: “Arrested Monday in LA as airline stowaway, woman is released Wednesday, arrested again Thursday”
Bad Latitude (San Francisco Chronicle, opinion): “TSA should hire ‘Serial Stowaway’ Marilyn Hartman”
