Police: Tinley Man Used Heroin in Stolen Car
Police say Justin F. Benoit, 30, stole a car from a New Lenox home after he was released from Silver Cross Hospital and drove it to Chicago to use heroin.
A Tinley Park man was booked into Will County jail Sunday after he stole a car in New Lenox and drove it to Chicago to use heroin, police said.
Justin F. Benoit, 30, of the 8800 block of 176th Street in Tinley Park, was charged in Will County with residential burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Deputy Chief Bob Pawlisz of the New Lenox Police Department said Benoit was also charged with heroin possession in Cook County.
Pawlisz said Benoit was released from Silver Cross Hospital, where he stayed for an unspecified chemical dependency treatment. Benoit left on foot and went to a home in the 1100 block of West Route 6, which is near the hospital.
New Lenox police were called to a home at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 22, in response to a stolen car.
The car was tracked using an OnStar system, and the Chicago Police Department found Benoit in the car near 72nd Street and Western Avenue in the city, according to police reports.
New Lenox police took Benoit into custody and discovered he also took a camera, computers and other miscellaneous items.
Benoit was booked into the Will County Jail and awaits a hearing.
In March 2011, Benoit was charged with child endangerment after Palos Police responded to a call from a 6-year-old boy who said he was hungry. When police got to the home, they found four unconscious adults, one of whom was Benoit. Another adult was pronounced dead.
According to some reports that were unverified at the time, the adults might have been suffering from heroin overdoses.
Police blotter information is provided by the New Lenox Police Department. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.
In This article
-
-
New Lenox Police Department
701 W Haven Ave, New Lenox, IL -
Michael Sewall
Joined Patch Wednesday, September 22, 2010
sells
6:42 pm on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
So now the new hospital is bringing crime with it; great for New Lenox, right.
Eileen
11:09 pm on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Yeah, that's it. Heroin addicts are now moving within walking distance of the hospital.
cyndi
7:50 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
So really the hospital was just going to let him walk home all the way to Tinley Park? Wow, they couldnt call his sponsor, emergency contact or call a cab and pay the fare? Another reason to be so impressed with that under staffed hospital with no neurologists !!
JP
8:58 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
sells, Yes, you will find criminals at hospitals. Criminals are everywhere. I'd rather have a hospital nearby.
Eileen, Like criminals, heroine addicts are everywhere. It's a serious problem.
Cyndi, The report states that he LEFT the hospital, not that he was released, etc. He may well have just up and walked out -easy to do at any hospital.
sells
9:08 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Between 355, walmart, and now the hospital, why not just erect a sign that says "New Lenox, the pathway for all criminals"
N Yan
2:18 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Couldn't agree with you more!
sells
10:00 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
and gypsies too!
http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/12126049-418/trio-nabbed-when-they-return-to-scene-of-crime.html
NLMom
10:04 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The hospital has no say in what mode of transportation someone uses when leaving the hospital. They also can't keep someone against their will. Crime was in New Lenox before the hospital was here.
Lsingersongs
10:40 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Wow! Wake up people! If you think the new hospital, Walmart and 355 brought crime to New Lenox maybe you need to get out more or maybe the police need to do more to make the people of New lenox more aware of what does go on in town.
sells
11:12 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
why don't you enlighten us...
alski
11:24 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
There's more heroin floating around in the local high schools as there is on the worst streets of Chicago. Here we go again....This forum attracts a lot of people who are not happy with anything in town. Really you should just move. Maybe a nice little place in the Pullman neighborhood. Or find yourself a little bungalow down on 87th and Stony Island.
sl
6:39 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Really people blaming a hospital? Hes from tinley park. U think u dont have criminals in new lenox?
sells
7:25 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
he left the hospital and went to the nearest house! If it had been your stuff stolen and tied up for the next 6 months you'd feel differently.
Nick.
7:44 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
if you guys think all this crime is being "brought in".. think again, we have had a heroin epidemic here since way before these buisnesses opened.. Quit looking for reasons to say these buisnesses are bad..
Chandra Collinsworth
10:01 am on Sunday, April 29, 2012
Heroin -one helluva drug.
Seriously- how addictive this crap must be that he leaves rehab, steals a car and drives to get a fix. Methadone just wasn't cutting it for him.
It's clear the kid didn't care about anything other than the fix. The drug made him leave the hospital and walk to the nearest house and steal a car without worrying about the ramifications. That right there is a very scary drug.
Legal prescription painkillers are the gateway to heroin, not weed. Oxycodone and the like are opioid analgesics (synthetic opiate) and are powerful painkillers prescribed to patients with acute or chronic pain. Kids start off with pills from suzy's dad's back surgery and end up quickly hooked. When the pills run out, those new opiate receptors are hungry and will not be denied. The kid really has no choice as he's just a puppet for his new drug master- must switch to more available heroin. The kid is jonesing for a fix, gets his first dose of ultra-pure heroin and OD's. One and Done.
Sounds too cliche, but Just say No - especially Opiates, Coke and Meth. and BOOZE.
Matt
5:14 am on Thursday, May 10, 2012
@ Chandra, I agree with some of what you said, but I think you're wrong about something. I believe for most people painkillers come *after* weed. How many teenagers do you know that "start" their journey on pills? Think about it, all those videos on youtube or those facebook posts of 14-year-olds hitting a bong and what not. You don't see videos of teenagers popping pills, do you?
My brother started on weed. Everything was fine, until somehow he moved to the synthetic marijuana, which really opened up doors to other things.
Chris Rene, a finalist on last year's X-Factor USA, he started on weed too. He didn't stop and almost died, got clean and now recorded an amazing anti-drug song.
I know that in itself, marijuana is really not much of a drug. But it is a gateway to other drugs, not to everyone but I believe MOST people don't stop there.
I'd just say no to everything. Saying no to every drug except for weed, is like being on a diet and saying no to all junk food except for ice cream. It just doesn't make sense.
Live above the influence, have fun and just enjoy life naturally. I don't think drugs or alcohol are needed to live and love our lives. They destroy them :(
Gerald Neismith
3:54 pm on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
@ Matt
I agree that weed is usually a step in the road to nowhere, but it weed it's own negative stigma- stoner, etc.
Pills are so neat and clean predictable... and they already are in the house.
The elephant in the room is booze, however.