'Serial stowaway' denied bail for probation violation, bypassing security at airports

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A judge has denied bail for "serial stowaway" Marilyn Hartman for a probation violation.

Hartman, 67, was back in court Tuesday after being arrested yet again for trying to get through security at O'Hare Airport. She has been arrested for trying to bypass security at airports at least 20 times.

With thousands of visitors each day coming through O'Hare International Airport, TSA officers apparently know Hartman by sight.

According to a Cook County prosecutor, a TSA agent carrying a photo of Hartman, who is on probation for illegal trespass, spotted her near a security checkpoint at last week.

Prosecutors said Hartman "passed under partitions at checkpoint 2 into a restricted area" at O'Hare last Friday. Hartman then allegedly snuck past a security checkpoint before a TSA agent caught her. Hartman was asked for ID and "proof of travel," according to prosecutors and she allegedly said she "does not need it" before walking away.

According to the Chicago Police Department arrest report, responding CPD officers approached Hartman. She "confirmed her identity verbally and produced an Illinois identification card," according to the report. She was then arrested and charged on Saturday.

'Serial stowaway' Marilyn Hartman faces felony charge

A woman known as a "serial stowaway" for her yearslong history of attempting to sneak onto airplanes was arrested at O'Hare on Friday.

Hartman has a series of arrests for being at airports and even boarding planes without a ticket.

Last year, ABC7 Chicago met with Hartman who was getting treatment and on electronic monitoring at A Safe Haven.

We've learned she recently left the facility, but it's unclear where she had been staying.

Now she is being held at the Cook County Jail on a judge's order Tuesday after Hartman allegedly violated her probation.

Hartman had been ordered to stay away from O'Hare and Midway, and that same Judge ordered Hartman to be held without bond Tuesday.

"I don't believe she is a threat. I don't believe she is a risk. She's not a person who in anyway obstructed the officers to even give her name or her information," said Cook County Assistant Public Defender Parle Roe-Taylor.

Hartman is due back in a different court room on Friday regarding her latest arrest last week.