US man disguised as a janitor tries sneaking into Germany to see girlfriend, cops say

A 20-year-old U.S. man longing to see his girlfriend in Germany — but rebuffed by coronavirus travel restrictions — took a flight to the country with a plan to see her anyway, police say.

The boyfriend arrived at the Frankfurt Airport after an international flight out of Washington, D.C., on Monday. Knowing that German officials have banned most Americans from entering the country, he put on a janitor’s disguise in an attempt to slip past a security checkpoint, police said.

The man was wearing a neon yellow vest and carrying black trash bags when he approached airport security personnel, telling them he had to empty garbage bins beyond the checkpoint, police said. A worker noticed he didn’t have security identification and couldn’t speak German, so she alerted the police, according to a news release.

When questioned by officers, the man told them he was trying to visit his girlfriend, police said.

Police say that if the man had eluded the first security checkpoint, he would have encountered border police at another entry.

The “yearning-stricken” man was sent back to the U.S. after German authorities finished their investigation, police said.

This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 11:17 AM with the headline "US man disguised as a janitor tries sneaking into Germany to see girlfriend, cops say."