Cops: Cough syrup and cash stolen by Speedway worker

An employee of the Speedway station on Laraway Road at Calistoga Drive in New Lenox stole more than $500 worth of cough syrup and cash from his job, police said.

Austin Holt, 18, was taken into custody on a charge of felony theft on July 3 and booked into the Will County Jail. Holt, a New Lenox resident, was released on $20,000 bond three days later, but was jailed again July 11.

Court records show Holt was booked back into the county jail for violating his mental health contract for an unrelated criminal case. He had pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary in June and was admitted to the county’s special drug court program. The New Lenox police also arrested Holt in that case, taking him into custody in January on charges of burglary and using a forged credit or debit card.

The law learned of Holt’s alleged theft from the Speedway on June 29, police said. Detectives reportedly launched an investigation that ended with his arrest.

A week prior to Holt’s arrest, a Lockport man was charged with stealing from a different New Lenox Speedway.

An office reportedly happened upon 34-year-old Michael Skandera while Skandera was loading bags of pellet salt into the trunk of his car at the Speedway on Route 30 near Oak Drive. It was nearly 4 a.m. and Skandera hadn’t paid for the 11 bags of salt, police said.

Skandera was taken into custody and later released on bond.