American man poses as janitor to sneak into Germany and visit girlfriend, authorities say

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A love-struck American posed as a janitor in an ill-fated attempt to skirt coronavirus travel restrictions and sneak into Germany to see his girlfriend, German investigators said Tuesday.

The 20-year-old American flew out of Washington and landed at Frankfurt airport on Sunday, police said in a statement. His identity was not disclosed.

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While Germany and the U.S. maintain air traffic connections, most U.S. nationals are not able to enter the country under travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

After arriving, the young man donned a yellow neon vest and carried two black trash bags to disguise himself as a worker, police said. He then tried to convince security guards to let him clean the garbage bins on the other side of a checkpoint.

However, a sharp-eyed employee noticed the American was not wearing a security ID badge and couldn’t speak German. She quickly alerted federal police about the would-be border-hopper, police said.

A couple with face masks walks through the empty Terminal 1 at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany on May 9. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The American told authorities that he longed for his girlfriend, according to police, and said he saw no other way to enter the country legally.

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Police said that even if the Romeo-esque American reached the trash cans, he would have still been within the transit area and subject to another border patrol checkpoint.

In order to protect his German girlfriend, whom he met when she was on a student exchange program in the U.S., the American never gave up her name to investigators, a police spokesman told ABC News.

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He was deported back to Washington the following day – without ever seeing his beloved, the station reported.