Man being deported escapes ICE agents, hails cab after using O’Hare restroom

A man being deported escaped immigration agents by sneaking out of a restroom during a layover at O’Hare International Airport.

Radu Anghel, 32, slipped past two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents June 10 at the airport’s international terminal as he was being transported from Texas back to his home country of Romania, authorities said.

Surveillance video showed him walking away from the agents after using a restroom and later hailing a cab outside, Chicago police said.

Law enforcement officials set up a perimeter to contain him, but he was already gone, police said.

Anghel had illegally entered the U.S. just months after being deported, according to ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda.

Texas Rangers initially arrested Anghel in February and handed him off to ICE officials, who deported him to Romania for overstaying his temporary worker visa, Pruneda said in a statement. Charges related to that arrest are still pending in Hall County in northern Texas, according to District Attorney Luke Inman.

On May 10, immigration officials arrested Anghel again near Roma, Texas, and transferred him into ICE custody three days later in Laredo, Texas, Pruneda said. He remained there until his planned June 10 deportation to Romania that required a stop at O’Hare.

Pruneda refused to comment on details of the ongoing investigation. It was unclear if the two ICE agents transporting Anghel would be disciplined or if Anghel was handcuffed during the incident.

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety couldn’t offer details about Anghel’s apprehension.