Aug. 08--Airplane stowaway Marilyn Hartman, who was arrested Monday for sneaking onto a flight from San Jose to Los Angeles, was busted again Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport -- a day after her release from jail, airport police said.
Hartman, 62, had been released Wednesday afternoon after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of stowing away. A Los Angeles court commissioner gave her two years probation and ordered her to stay away from LAX unless she had a valid ticket.
But at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, Hartman was taken into custody near Terminal 7 after spending nearly an hour at LAX, police said. She was taken directly to jail on suspicion of a probation violation.
Airport police officials had figured she would return, so they distributed flyers bearing Hartman's picture to Transportation Security Administration officers and airport staffers.
"She was seen wandering through several terminals today, in what appeared to be a scouting mission," said airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon.
It was at least the eighth time in recent months that Hartman has been busted for sneaking onto an airplane, trying to sneak on an airplane or hanging around an airport. Most of the previous incidents occurred at San Francisco International Airport.
Hartman's behavior has perplexed authorities, who are struggling to stop her -- and help her.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom where she had pleaded on Wednesday, Hartman said her homelessness had driven her to take "desperate measures." She said she had $4.25 in "piggy bank change" and was unsure how she would get back to the Bay Area. She said her debit card was stolen Friday, when she would have gotten a Social Security check.
She said she felt safer in airports than the streets, but swore she would never repeat the stowaway move, saying, "I certainly don't want to do any jail time." Still, she allegedly waited only hours to return to an airport.
"We will do a thorough review once we see the police report. Then we will weigh the options and decide how to proceed," said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney's office. "It's very unique."
Hartman was given a series of mental health exams by the city attorney's office before her court hearing Wednesday -- all of which she passed, Mateljan said.
Authorities are still investigating how Hartman was able to fly without a ticket on Monday. She got into the baggage-screening area at Mineta San Jose International Airport by ducking behind a family that was occupying a document checker, said a source familiar with the investigation.
She proceeded to a Southwest Airlines gate and sneaked onto a Boeing 737 without a boarding pass before flying to LAX, authorities said. When she arrived, a crew member became aware she didn't have a ticket and called police.
Officials with the San Jose airport and the Transportation Security Administration insisted Hartman never posed a threat because she was screened by TSA workers. The TSA, though, said it would improve the layout of the document checking area.
Hartman's long history of trouble at airports predates her San Francisco arrests. She was arrested Nov. 6, 2010, at the Lihue Airport in Kauai after trespassing into the baggage claim area, records show. She was charged with simple trespass, but failed to show up for court hearings and remains the subject of a bench warrant on the islands.
Hartman has no known family. Each time she has been taken into custody, she has declined to fill out emergency contact information, said Steve Wagstaffe, district attorney of San Mateo County, whose jurisdiction includes the San Francisco airport.
Earlier this year, she was referred to a residential program offering treatment for mental illness, he said, but she checked in and out of the facility twice.
The services were provided through Pathways mental health court, a program usually reserved for felony offenders with major mental illnesses, Wagstaffe said. The court made an exception for Hartman in order to provide her with housing and counseling.
"She didn't like it. It has rules. She walked away," Wagstaffe said.
Airport security: Breaches raise broader questions. A12
Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Copyright 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle
