Channahon ATM Theft Leads To Vehicle Forfeiture Case

CHANNAHON, IL — A Will County judge will hear testimony next week on whether to make the 2013 Dodge Avenger owned by 27-year-old Houston resident Tony Moy a forfeited asset for the police. Channahon police impounded his vehicle on Christmas Day following the attempted theft of a bank ATM near Route 6.

The crime happened around 6:30 a.m. Dec. 25 at the CIBC Banking Center at 23540 West Eames St., which is Route 6, just off the Interstate 55 exit for Channahon. Once the alarm for the ATM went off, three Channahon officers rolled up and found the ATM heavily damaged.

Police found pry marks on the left side of the ATM, and the machine had been ripped out of its concrete barriers, causing the ATM to tilt forward, court records show.

"The front of the ATM was heavily damaged and appeared to be missing internal parts of the machine itself," the forfeiture complaint states.

Channahon officers saw tire markings in the brown mulch for a concrete barrier separating the bank parking lot and the ATM drive-thru.

Officers followed the trail of tire markings toward a nearby access road and saw a white 1996 Ford F240 parked in the middle of the dirt road trail, facing west.

The truck had two heavy-duty silver chains with two large hooks attached, the forfeiture complaint stated. The truck did not have any license plates and no one was inside.

Channahon police later learned the white Ford 250 was stolen from a used car dealership and "was used to pull the ATM off the concrete pad," court documents indicate.

Eventually, officers saw a black Dodge Avenger pulled to the side of the access road, west of where the stolen truck was parked. The Dodge Avenger was parked and had its hazard lights on. As the driver pulled off to head south on Thomas Dillon Drive, a Channahon officer stopped the motorist near the Speedway gas station.

The vehicle smelled of marijuana and the driver, Moy, provided identification showing he was from Texas, but he told police he did not have a driver's license, court records show.

According to the complaint, Moy told Channahon police he had stopped in front of the white truck on the access road because he was coming from Wisconsin and needed to check his GPS.

"Moy advised that he was headed to a hotel, but could not provide an exact location of the hotel," the forfeiture states.

Police arrested Moy for not having a valid driver's license and because he's not allowed to smoke marijuana inside a motor vehicle in Illinois, court documents show. He was later charged with possession of felony burglary tools.

Channahon officers recovered $760 from Moy's right sock and one of the $20 bills was marked with a number 500 on it, in what appeared to be a black pen, the complaint reads.

When police searched the Texas man's Dodge Avenger this is what they found, according to the forfeiture documents: two pry bars with a piece of plastic and gray paint residue that later matched the ATM, an orange jacket, a garbage bag with a backpack, three cell phone chargers, two cell phones and a pair of black gloves.

Now, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow has asked a judge to declare Moy's Dodge Avenger a forfeited asset for the police because it "facilitated the offense of burglary in that it provided transportation for Tony Moy to and from the location of the burglary and also contained burglary tools and burglary proceeds," the forfeiture states.

The civil forfeiture case will go before a Will County judge on March 10.

As for Moy, he was allowed to return to the state of Texas after posting 10 percent of his $30,000 bail on New Year's Eve, Will County Jail logs show.