MARION, Ill. – A southern Illinois man has been charged with theft for allegedly stealing a backhoe to drive about 10 miles to an airport to catch a flight, authorities said.
Security camera footage shows a Carbondale man arriving at the Southern Illinois Veterans Airport in a backhoe and leaving it in the airport parking lot Thursday, the sheriff’s office said of Williamson County.
The footage captured the man walking across the street from the lot to the airport lobby, carrying a guitar case, the sheriff’s office said.
The owner of the backhoe arrived at the airport a short time later and identified the equipment as belonging to his company, the sheriff’s office said. The owner said the machine, which was normally used to move large debris, had been parked at a job site.
