Relatives Discover Cousin Selling Their Guitar for Heroin Money: Cops

When a Joliet family returned home Wednesday to find several possessions, including a guitar, had been stolen, they had a pretty good idea of who did it and where they might find the missing instrument, Joliet Police Cmdr. Al Roechner.

They headed over to Guitar Center, 2785 Plainfield Road, Joliet, and found not only the guitar but the person who allegedly took it and sold it to the store -- family cousin Michael R. Ford, 20, of 16558 Zausa Drive, Crest Hill, Roechner said.

Ford was arrested and charged with residential burglary.

According to reports, Ford had been visiting his cousins Wednesday at their home, 6123 Pheasant Ridge, which is in Joliet but has a Plainfield address. He left when they did, but later returned to the empty house to take several items, including the guitar and a laptop computer, Roechner said.

Police were notified of the break-in at about 2:30 p.m., and then called again less than two hours later when Ford was discovered by his angry relatives at Guitar Center and got into an altercation with them, Roechner said.

Ford later admitted to stealing the instrument, which he said he sold because he needed money for his heroin addiction, he said.

Ford is being held in the Will County jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. According to court records, he was also arrested in January 2011 on a charge of felony theft.

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