By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-17 07:22:39 | Updated at 2024-12-17 09:44:35
2 hours ago
The unhinged Russian plane stowaway who snuck her way onto a Paris-bound flight from JFK Airport was arrested Monday after trying once again to flee the country, sources said.
Svetlana Dali — who was released without bail earlier this month despite her history of being a literal flight risk — was caught trying to cross into Canada on a Greyhound bus from Buffalo, New York, a law enforcement source said.
The failed escape artist allegedly cut off her GPS ankle monitor — a condition of her release — and fled the Philadelphia home of a friend she was supposed to be staying with while awaiting trial, the source said.
Dali, 57, then hopped on a Greyhound in Buffalo that was bound for the US’s northern neighbor. But she failed to show her passport when asked, prompting cops to search her name, according to the source.
The officers discovered an active warrant was out for Dali’s arrest for leaving the approved travel perimeter outlined by her release conditions and took her into custody in the western New York city.
Prosecutors warned that the Russian native — who had attempted to hitchhike flights at other domestic airports before she was successful at JFK — was “a serious risk of flight” at her bail hearing on Dec. 6.
The Brooklyn judge who released her from custody even admitted he was worried she’d seek a way out of the US as he freed her back into the world.
“I remain feeling concerned that there is a risk of flight here. She evaded TSA security checks twice,” Judge Joseph Marutollo said at the hearing. “There are not [community] ties here. … I’m in a tough spot.”
Dali is accused of secretly hitching a ride on a Delta flight from the Queens airport to Paris on Nov. 26 after dodging airline workers distracted by holiday travelers.
She was discovered after the plane landed in France and subsequently flown back to the Big Apple where she was met by cops who took her into custody.
Dali had been staying with a friend from church as part of her release conditions before her latest attempted vanishing act to Canada.
But even the friend was weary of her restless energy.
Silouan John Mathew previously said in court that he’s “willing to let her stay in [my] house as needed because I believe she doesn’t have anywhere else to stay.
“I don’t mind her staying in the house, but I don’t want to legally be responsible for her,” he said.
Dali was not allowed to enter any airports as part of her release conditions. The conditions did not mention anything about bus stations.
The escapee will appear in court on Tuesday.
