Aditya Singh, 36, was arrested Jan. 16 after living as a squatter at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for three months
New security footage shows the moment a man who lived for three months undetected at Chicago O’Hare International Airport was arrested while wearing a yellow safety vest.
Aditya Singh, 36, was arrested on January 16 after living as a squatter at the airport for months without suspicion.
Singh, who is unemployed and living with “roommates” in Orange, Los Angeles, arrived in Chicago on Oct. 19 and “was very afraid to fly home to Los Angeles because of COVID.” said State Attorney Kathleen Hagerty’s attorney.
Instead of leaving, Singh decided to sink inside a safe section of the airport.
He was allegedly posing as an airport worker when uniformed police officers were questioned in front of an airport toilet, the busiest in the country.
New video footage of his arrest shows the moment officers stop to interrogate Singh in front of a male bathroom at the airport on January 16th. He was wearing a bright yellow safety vest and tracksuit pants
In the images, Singh is serving a police coup and searches before escorting him
Police said he was found in possession of a security badge from the airport operation manager who was reportedly out of place by the time Singh started living at the airport.
Video footage of the arrest obtained by ABC News shows a group of agents stop to interrogate him and he stretches out his arms to search him before going out with them.
He was found in possession of a security badge by an airport operations manager who was reported missing on October 26, approximately when Singh began living at the airport.
Singh, who has a master’s degree in hospitality and has no criminal record, said he survived on food from other passengers at the airport.
According to Fox25, a house was built in Terminal 2, near the F12 gate, between the Cinnabon store and a shoe rack.
He was eventually arrested when two United Airlines employees suspected him and confronted Singh, who then showed him the identification badge of the airport he had found.
He was charged with felony criminal mischief in a restricted area of an airport and theft of misdemeanors of less than $ 500.
Singh photographed on the left when he was a graduate student at Oklahoma State University and on the right in the social media photo
Shortly after his arrest, Singh was released on $ 10,000 bail and required to wear an electronic wristband and settled in a Chicago homeless shelter, according to NBC Chicago.
As a condition of bail, he has been ordered to leave 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 being investigated, we have been able to determine that this gentleman posed no security risk to the airport or the traveling public.”
“We will continue to work with our police partners on a thorough investigation into this matter,” the statement added.
Singh’s friends have been shocked by the news that he was busy at the airport.
He was eventually arrested when two United Airlines employees suspected him and confronted Singh, who showed him the airport ID card he had found.
“It seemed very different from him doing something like just detaching himself from the outside world,” said Adam Dinkledine, who shared a house with Singh when they were both students at Oklahoma State University in the fall of 2017.
“I definitely wouldn’t have seen this coming at all. I hope I can get the right help for this situation,” he added.
It would enter a room and illuminate the space. It was a great example of what a person in the hospitality industry wants to do, which is to engage others and inspire others, ”said Katherine Ruck, who worked with Singh at Taylor’s Oklahoma State Dining, a restaurant linked to the hospitality industry on campus, ”the school said.