Crime & Safety
Joliet Drug Dealer Caught With Pipe Bombs, Coke, Ecstasy, Mushrooms and Pills: Feds
The Joliet man had a pistol and the makings for even more pipe bombs in his Crest Hill storage lockers, an ATF agent said.
Michael Haldorson, 34, posted a $200,000 bond for his release but was to wear an ankle bracelet and remain on home confinement. The restrictions have been eased since his arrest by the feds in October.
Haldorson, who was employed by First Presbyterian Church in Joliet, according to court papers, had previously been in custody at the Will County jail.
An informant working for the Will County Cooperative Police Assistance Team called Haldorson in June and set up a deal to buy $120 worth of cocaine, according to an affidavit signed by an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Haldorson agreed to meet the snitch near Plainfield Central High School, the affidavit said, but when he got there, the cops stopped him.
As he was being pulled over, according to the affidavit, Haldorson sent the informant a text saying, “I just got rolled up on. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
During the traffic stop, police found a backpack containing beverage cans equipped with hidden compartments, the affidavit said, and the compartments held drugs. Police also allegedly located psychedelic mushrooms and additional pills in the backpack.
The cops called in bomb technicians and ATF agents after they noticed a PVC pipe bomb in the back seat of Haldorson’s car and two more in the trunk, the affidavit said. Haldorson also allegedly had some fireworks.
At first, Haldorson claimed credit for assembling the pipe bombs and said he got the directions online, the affidavit said, but later recanted and claimed he bought them from someone named “Mario.”
Police reportedly obtained a search warrant for two storage lockers Haldorson was renting from a facility in Crest Hill. Police recovered smokeless powder, end caps, PVC pipe, more fireworks, and a .45-caliber pistol from the lockers, the affidavit said.
The next hearing in Haldorson’s case was scheduled for next week.
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