Serial Stowaway Arrested at LAX -- Again

Updated at 6:13 p.m. with new details.

A woman arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday after she stowed away on a Southwest Airlines flight from San Jose to Los Angeles was arrested again today at LAX, which she may have been scouting for another stowaway attempt, authorities said.

Marilyn Jean Hartman, 62, was arrested about 11:15 a.m. by airport police near Terminal 7 and booked at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Station for allegedly violating her probation and an order to stay away from the airport, Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon said.

The probation and stay-away order were imposed Wednesday, when she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of entering the city as a stowaway, authorities said.

On Monday night, Hartman was arrested at LAX after taking a flight from San Jose without a ticket or boarding pass, which led to her no-contest plea. As part of her sentence, she was ordered to stay away from LAX unless she had a valid flight ticket, police said.

She immediately was sentenced to three days in jail -- amounting to credit for time she had already served -- and two years probation, according to Frank Mateljan of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.

“As the person ultimately responsible for the safety and security of employees and passengers at LAX, my experience led me to believe Hartman was likely to return to LAX,” Gannon said. “When we knew she was going to be released from custody, we were prepared. We worked closely with the Transportation Security Administration and our other airport partners to distribute flyers with her picture on it. She was seen wandering through several terminals today, in what appeared to be a scouting mission.”

According to the chief, Hartman was first spotted about 10:20 a.m. today boarding a FlyAway bus from Union Station. She arrived at LAX and was seen by airport police officers as she entered Terminal 2.

She spent about an hour at the airport, “scouting out multiple passenger terminals before being arrested,” according to a police statement.

She did not have an airline ticket or boarding pass and had not been seen trying to purchase a ticket when she was arrested, police said.

When she was released for Monday’s breach, Hartman told reporters she would not try to stow away again. She previously breached security at San Francisco International Airport on three occasions while trying to board flights to Hawaii, according to reports.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.