Serial stowaway arrested at Chicago O’Hare Airport

A woman notorious for sneaking onto commercial airplanes has once again been arrested – this time after making her way through a federal checkpoint at O’Hare International Airport and onto a plane that flew her to London, authorities said.

Marilyn Hartman, 66, is believed to have gotten through airport security without a boarding pass or passport, flown to London’s Heathrow Airport and was detained by British Customs officials when she landed Monday Jan. 22, according to a news release from Chicago police. Hartman was sent back to Chicago and landed at O’Hare on Thursday. She now faces a felony theft charge and a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge, according to police.

Hartman, of Hamelitz Court in Grayslake, was expected to appear in court Saturday.

The Transportation Security Administration is investigating how Hartman was able to get through security, a spokesman said in a statement Friday.

“This matter is subject to an ongoing investigation and TSA is working closely with our law enforcement and airline partners in that effort,” according to the statement. “During the initial investigation it was determined that the passenger was screened at the security checkpoint before boarding a flight. Upon learning of the incident TSA, and its aviation partners took immediate action to review security practices throughout the airport.”

This is Hartman’s first arrest in Chicago since 2016, but she has a long history of trying to sneak onto airplanes.

Hartman was given probation when she originally was sentenced after pleading guilty in a February 2016 trespassing charge, she was sentenced to 364 days in jail a few weeks later, according to court records. She was credited for 23 days already served and could have spent less than six months in jail if given credit for good behavior, according to court records.

At the time she was sentenced to jail, Hartman had been living at a mental health facility on the Near North Side before violating the terms of her probation by leaving the facility and going to O’Hare.

Hartman has been detained several times across the country for trying to bypass airport security. In a court filing after her arrest in July 2015 at O’Hare on trespass charges, Cook County prosecutors described Hartman as a “serial stowaway.” She told NBC-Ch. 5 in December 2015 that she “may have” boarded planes without a ticket eight times. www.chicagotribune.com