California man lived at Chicago O'Hare airport for three months during pandemic

The man was reportedly afraid to travel back to his California home state due to the virus

Published: January 20, 2021 8:01am

Updated: January 20, 2021 10:34am

A 36-year-old California man has been arrested after living undetected in the Chicago O'Hare airport for the past three months.

The man, identified as Aditya Singh, walked off his arriving flight in Chicago on Oct. 19, and never left the airport. Singh was arrested Sunday for impersonation in a restricted area and theft of less than $500, according to a report from the New York Times.

On Saturday, two United Airlines employees asked Singh for identification and he showed them an airport ID badge belonging to an operations manager who had reported the badge missing in October.

A Chicago prosecutor says Singh reported that he was "scared to go home due to Covid."

It is unclear if Singh has any ties to the Chicago area. According to his Facebook page, Singh is originally from New Delhi and lives in Orange County, where he is self-employed. He formerly worked as a senior analyst for Deloitte, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Singh is currently set to appear in court on Jan. 27.