'Lonely' serial stowaway arrested again at LAX
LOS ANGELES -- A Northern California woman who repeatedly tried to board flights without a boarding pass was arrested again at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday.
A law enforcement source said an alert had been issued for officers to be on the lookout for Marilyn Jean Hartman, who was arrested on Monday night at LAX after sneaking onto a Southwest Airlines flight at Mineta San Jose International Airport.
"My experience led me to believe Hartman was likely to return to LAX," said Airport Police Chief Patrick Gannon, who is also deputy executive director of Homeland Security and Public Safety for Los Angeles World Airports, in a statement. "She was seen wandering through several terminals today, in what appeared to be a scouting mission."
Hartman boarded a FlyAway bus from Union Station in the morning and arrived at LAX around 10:20 a.m. Airport police watched Hartman enter Terminal 2. She spent about an hour at the airport scouting multiple passenger terminals before being arrested near Terminal 7, police said.
Hartman had not purchased an airline ticket and did not have one in her possession at the time of her arrest. She was taken to Los Angeles Police Pacific Division Jail for pre-booking procedures.
On Wednesday, 62-year-old Hartman was sentenced to three days of time served in jail and two years of probation for bypassing two checkpoints in San Jose and boarding a plane to Los Angeles. A public defender said Hartman was homeless and had no source of income. The incident was at least her seventh attempt to sneak onto planes.
Outside the courthouse, Hartman said she was sorry for her actions.
"I certainly don't want to do it again because I certainly don't want to do any jail time," Hartman said.
Hartman told officials she is lonely and has been trying to get on a flight to Hawaii. In May, Hartman was determined to be suffering from a mental illness and deemed a suitable candidate for a residential mental health program, prosecutors said. It was not known what treatment, if any, she completed.
Photos: Mugshots of serial stowaway Marilyn Hartman
