A 36-year-old man "lived" in the security area of ​​Chicago O'Hare Airport for around three months, allegedly without being noticed by the staff or the police. The story is strongly reminiscent of the movie “Terminal”, because the “resident” did not want to leave for fear of being infected with Covid-19.

The responsible public prosecutor presented the course of events as follows: The man landed on October 19, 2020 from Los Angeles at Chicago O'Hare Airport. He is then said to have stolen an ID from an airport employee. However, he did not notice the theft and reported his access card for the security area to the ID card office as lost. This then made a block.

It is assumed that the 36-year-old left the security area at least once and then re-entered it with the stolen ID card. Since then he has "lived" in the transit area. He supplied himself with meals and drinks in the shops, but also received "donations" from travelers. In this respect, it seems questionable that the airport staff said they hadn't noticed anything for three months.

Only then should United Airlines employees become suspicious and asked the man for an identification document. He showed the stolen employee ID, but the photo clearly did not match the person. The executive was called and arrested the 36-year-old.

The man now has to answer in court. According to the Chicago Tribune, the judge responsible initially considered the prosecution's request to be completely untrustworthy. She couldn't imagine that no one would have noticed anything for three months, even at a major airport. The charges are of theft and illegal entry into the security area of ​​an airport.

Incidentally, the airport operator banned the man from entering the terminal, so that in future he will no longer be allowed to enter the terminal. It is assumed, however, that the 36-year-old “resident” did not pose a risk to people or flight safety at any time.

And why did the 36-year-old man actually do that? According to his defense attorney, he was afraid that he could catch the corona virus on his return flight. Therefore, he did not dare to board an airplane. However, she did not say whether he had a ticket at all. With a boarding pass, it would not have been necessary to steal the employee ID ...