Serial Stowaway Marilyn Hartman Arrested at Midway and O'Hare Again

A Chicago-area woman with a history of trying to sneak onto airplanes was arrested again at Midway Airport Friday night and yet again on Saturday at O’Hare International Airport.

On Friday, she had a valid boarding pass.

Police said Marilyn Hartman, 63, caused a disturbance after she boarded her New York-bound plane at Midway Airport at about 5 p.m. Friday. She’s charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and released on bond.

Just a day earlier, she’d been released from Cook County Jail, where she served seven weeks behind bars for trying to sneak into Chicago’s airports.

“Even smart people do stupid things,” she told reporters after she was released from jail. She asked an NBC Chicago reporter if he would like to help her buy an airline ticket.

On Saturday, she was arrested in Terminal 1 at O’Hare, police said, and she’s charged with criminal trespassing to state land and violation of bail bond.

A serial stowaway, Hartman has tried many times in recent years to board flights at various airports in Chicago and elsewhere without a ticket. She’s been arrested in Los Angeles and Phoenix, too. In April and May, she tried to get through security five times at O’Hare and Midway.

She once flew from San Jose to L.A. aboard a Southwest Airlines flight by sneaking past TSA agents occupied with a family’s papers. She then got past the airline staff and onto the plane. She also flew on a Minnesota-to-Florida flight without a ticket. She’s claimed there are others attempts in which she’s gotten caught in the past and then let go.