A demolition crew hired by the state to tear down houses for the proposed south suburban airport will not be prosecuted for cutting across a homeowner's yard with a backhoe.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow did not find sufficient evidence to charge the workers with trespassing, spokesman Charles Pelkie said.

Pelkie said the lack of "no trespassing" signs and the absence of significant damage to the property prompted Glasgow to drop the matter.

"He took a long, hard look at this case. He is disturbed and angry," Pelkie said. "If there was some damage to that property, he would be filing charges."

The workers, under contract through the Illinois Department of Transportation, were assigned to raze a home on Eagle Lake Road in unincorporated Monee on Dec. 1.

To reach the site, they drove at least one piece of heavy equipment across the yard of Mark Baugh, who unsuccessfully tried to stop the workers by brandishing a shotgun.

Baugh doubted he would get off as easy if he was caught driving across state property.

He remains angry.

"It just goes to show you how crooked they are," he said. "It is total disregard for somebody else's property."

Baugh said the company that hired the workers apologized after the incident.
"They were sorry," Baugh said. "They were sorry I was home and they got caught."