Crime & Safety
Stolen Dump Truck Used To Steal Golf Cart In Elwood: Hayes
Michael Honiotes has an extensive criminal history in the area, particularly around Grundy County, Elwood Chief Fred Hayes said.
ELWOOD, IL — Fred Hayes has been a Joliet area police officer for more than 40 years, but an overnight crime last week in Elwood was something he had never encountered before.
The incident led to the arrest of 54-year-old Goose Lake resident Michael Honiotes on two charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and one charge of possession of a criminal trespass to vehicles.
The criminal complaint at the Will County Courthouse was signed by Hayes, the chief of the Elwood Police Department.
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During Wednesday's interview, Hayes told Joliet Patch that officers at the Elwood Police Department were alerted around 3:10 a.m. on March 23 to a suspicious person near Route 53 and Huff Road. Officers went to the scene and found a red GMC dump truck partially on the shoulder of the road and partially on the road, and there was a golf cart behind the dump truck.
Turns out, the golf cart had just been stolen from someone in Elwood.
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And it turns out, the dump truck was stolen hours earlier, in Braidwood, according to Hayes.
After Honiotes stole the dump truck in Braidwood, he drove to Elwood, where he decided to try to steal the golf cart, according to Hayes.
The dump truck was owned by a Coal City man, who still had the vehicle's only set of keys; it appeared that Honiotes hot-wired the vehicle, allowing him to drive it away, Hayes said.
Patch asked if Honiotes made any statement at the time of his arrest by Elwood police.
"He told the police officer that he probably should not have taken the truck," Hayes said.
What else did Hayes have to say about the crime?
"It's not every day that you see someone trying to steal a dump truck, and it's not every day that you see someone trying to put a golf cart into a stolen dump truck," Hayes remarked.
Hayes said that Honiotes is well-known to area law enforcement, particularly around Grundy County. Last October, Morris Police told a Grundy County radio station that Honiotes entered a restaurant with a BB gun and stole money from the tables that was left for the waitresses.
"He's got a pretty lengthy record," Hayes said. "I know that Grundy County is aware of him."
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