Man steals backhoe for 10-mile drive to Illinois airport to catch flight

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For Natalie O’Neill

Apparently he doesn’t “dig” Uber.

An Illinois man was arrested for skidding a backhoe and driving it 10 miles to the airport to catch a flight, police said.

Timothy Baggott of Carbondale allegedly parked the tractor-like ride at the Southern Illinois Veterans Airport on May 18; he then left with a guitar case and headed toward the terminal, according to security camera footage shared by police.

Baggott is accused of dumping the debris hauler from a semi-rural job site and then leaving it in the airport parking lot, prompting a call to police about the “suspicious ” the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

The owner of the backhoe arrived at the airport shortly after and claimed it, according to police.

Baggott was charged with felony theft over $10,000, the sheriff’s office said.

Onlookers joked about the hillbilly-style ride on the sheriff’s Facebook page, writing, “Now that’s redneck” and “You can’t even make that up.”

“Even left the buckets… good operator,” wrote one commenter.