The Chicago woman who sneaked through airport security and boarded dozens of flights without a ticket reportedly escaped a residential electronic monitoring facility before returning to the airport.
“Serial stowaway” Marilyn Hartman was taken into custody at O’Hare Airport after escaping from court-ordered facilities on Tuesday, according to WGN.
Investigators were able to arrest Hartman at the international airport thanks to his tracking device, the report said.
The 69-year-old – who has cheated TSA at least 30 times over three decades – failed to escape the checkpoint this week and the police caught her in the unsafe section of the airport, the local police said.
Hartman was arrested for breaching security several times at O’Hare, Midway and other airports across the country. She even cheated the customs authorities and boarded planes for London, Copenhagen and Paris, according to an interview with CBS 2 in Chicago, which coincidentally aired only on Sunday.
Hartman told the station that she is not a crime genius.
“The only thing I have to say to you. I was never able to board a plane alone. I’ve always been missed, ”said Hartman. “I mean, I managed to get through the security line without a boarding pass.”
“I managed to get past them, that’s the thing that’s so crazy, following someone they would carry like a blue bag,” said the Second City stowaway to the CBS affiliate. “And the next thing I know, I get on the TSA line and TSA lets me through, and they think I’m with the guy with the blue bag.”
Security professionals told the station that their simple tactics are very alarming in a post-9/11 world.
“For her to be able to repeat this over and over, this is mind boggling,” aviation security expert Jeff Price told CBS 2.
The genius of its mode of operation lies in its simplicity, ”he said. “It’s just that the types of simple plans tend to be the most successful.”
Hartman, who fights bipolar disorder, says the police continue to blame their mental illness for their long criminal record, rather than the ineptitude of the airport employee.
“I know that they continue to emphasize mental illness … the police authorities … would like to have that in place. But umm … [laugh] no, I’m fine, ”she would have said.
Criminal escape charges are pending against Hartman, according to WGN.