Aditya Singh, 36, was arrested on January 16 after living as a squatter at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago for three months
New security footage shows the moment when a man who had been living unnoticed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago for three months was arrested wearing a yellow safety vest.
Aditya Singh, 36, was arrested on January 16 after living for months at the airport as a squatter without suspicion.
Singh, who is unemployed and lived with ‘roommates’ in Orange, Los Angeles, had flown to Chicago on Oct. 19 and was ‘too scared to fly home because of COVID,’ said assistant state attorney Kathleen Hagerty.
Instead of leaving, Singh decided to settle in a secure area of the airport.
He is alleged to have posed as an airport worker when questioned by uniformed police officers outside a toilet at the airport, the busiest in the country.
New video footage of his arrest shows officers stopping January 16 to interrogate Singh outside a men’s toilet at the airport. He was wearing a bright yellow safety vest and sweatpants.
In the footage, Singh fulfills a police pat and quest before being led away
Police said he was found in possession of an airport manager’s security badge that was reported as misplaced around the time Singh began living at the airport
Video footage of the arrest obtained by ABC News shows a group of agents stopping to question him and holding out his arms to be searched before running away with them.
He was found in possession of an airport manager’s security badge, which was reported missing on October 26, around the time Singh began living at the airport.
Singh, who has a master’s degree in hospitality and has no criminal background, said he survived from food from other airport passengers.
According to Fox25, he has reportedly made a house for himself in Terminal 2 near gate F12 between the Cinnabon store and a shoe shine stand.
He was eventually arrested when two United Airlines employees became suspicious of him and confronted Singh, who then showed him the airport ID badge he found.
He was charged with felony criminal offense in a restricted area of an airport and felony theft of less than $ 500.
Singh in the photo on the left when he was a graduate student at Oklahoma State University and on the right in a photo on social media
Shortly after his arrest, Singh was released with $ 10,000 bail, had to wear an electronic ankle bracelet, and took up residence in a homeless shelter in Chicago, NBC Chicago said.
As bail he has to stay away from the airport. His next court date is scheduled for March 2 in Skokie.
The Chicago Department of Aviation said in a statement, “While this incident is still under investigation, we have determined that this gentleman did not pose a security risk to the airport or to the traveling public.”
“We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in a thorough investigation of this matter,” the statement added.
Singh’s friends are shocked by the news that he was squatting at the airport.
He was eventually arrested when two United Airlines employees became suspicious and confronted Singh, who then showed him the airport ID badge he found.
“It was very different for him to do something like just disconnect from the outside world,” said Adam Dinkledine, who shared a home with Singh in the fall of 2017 when they were both students at Oklahoma State University.
‘I had absolutely not seen that coming. I hope he can get some help that is appropriate for this situation, ‘he added.
He walked into a room and lit it up. He was a great example of what someone in the hospitality industry wants to do, which is to engage and inspire others, ” said Katherine Ruck, who worked with Singh at Taylor’s Dining Room in Oklahoma State, a restaurant connected to the campus. the school.