Two accounts in the past 24 hours point to the return of Calvin Honey, the 49-year-old “habitual aggressive fake construction worker,” as the Mentor police have previously described him. He was sentenced to 89 days in jail back during the summer on theft and begging charges, and he’s apparently out and back to his old construction worker impostor tricks. One pal saw him downtown, and there’s also this account from a Redditor who saw him at Chester and I-90 and warned folks not to pick him up:

Trying to be a good guy I gave this guy a ride today. He gave me a bunch of BS about being a construction worker (hard hat, reflective vest, safety glasses and all). He kept changing his story as to why he needed a ride and what construction crew he was with. I ended up dropping him off at Univ Circle PD just to get him out of my car. Do not let him con you.

FYI, folks.

Here’s Mentor PD’s post from earlier this year describing his racket:

On Tuesday around 11:30 am callers reported a panhandler dressed in construction gear in the area of Reynolds Rd. near Industrial Pkwy. A detective in plain clothes observed the panhandler and recognized him as Calvin Honey of Cleveland. Honey, once again, was dressed in full construction gear including hard hat, flashlight and fluorescent vest. Honey was detained after he was given $20 by a motorist.

Honey has done this before in our city as well in several others. Honey has a lengthy criminal history. Officers arrested him on April 10th, 2015 pulling the same scam.

Upon his arrest officers discovered he had shoplifted an adult magazine from a nearby gas station. Honey was charged with begging, theft and possession of criminal tools. 

This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2015.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

29 replies on “Cleveland’s Favorite Fake Construction Worker is Apparently Back”

  1. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure I picked up this dude last spring off of Chagrin boulevard and 271. He jumped out into the road right before the on ramp to 271 and waived me down. He looked like a construction worker so I stopped. He asked for a ride “2 exits” up to meet up with his crew because his truck broke down. I had like 10 seconds to make a decision and I felt bad under pressure and picked him up. He was full of it and changed his story from “2 exits” to needing to go to Macedonia. He then said “well that’s really far so I think I just need like 60 bucks to get my truck fixed”. Anyway, long story but I turned around and dropped him back off.

  2. WTF is with all these people picking up hitchhikers? Is that EVER a good idea? I don’t give a shit if you’re a construction worker or James Franco, I’m not picking you up unless you’re flagging me down with a shotgun. Even then it’s debatable if I’m going to stop. This ain’t Saugerties NY circa 1969.

  3. unreal. i picked up this dude about 6-7 years ago on e.9th. He was in full construction garb and said his truck was broke down and asked if i could drop him off near mlk-not before he asked me for money. I asked if three bucks was ok- he said it wasn’t-lol. He had me drive him into the belly of East Cleveland before he got out at the intersection of Superior and boarded up gas station st… I’m an idiot. Nice guy though..

  4. Several years ago, I was driving home on Chester and this dude knocks on my window, then just gets in my car. Then he’s like “yo.. U see those construction workers in like 2 more stop lights? I need a ride up there.” At that point I was trying to process: A) the fact that he just got in my car and B) if he was actually a construction worker, why was he unable to just walk the 2 blocks? Given that he was already in my car, and without knowing whether he was a danger, I proceeded to give him a ride.

    Once we got to the light, he seemed to forget that he asked me to be dropped off there, and started rambling about how his father had just passed away the previous week. At that point I noticed alcohol on his breath, and feeling a bit nervous, I tried to maintain a friendly conversation and determine where I could drop him off.

    Then, all of a sudden, he said “mannnnn!! I’m gonna buy you a toothless prostitute!” Dumbfounded, I replied with “thanks, but no thanks”, and something along the lines of “what did I do to deserve such an act?” It was then that he thanked me for offering to give him money for a gas can, but the funny thing was that he had not even asked me for money. It got even more sketchy when he kept trying to get me to turn down uninhabited side streets. Finally I found a gas station, told him to get out, and gave him a $20.

    In hindsight, I’m not sure whether giving him money was the most appropriate course of action, but clearly he was in a bad situation for whatever reason, and if paying $20 was a way to get him out of my car, it was a worthwhile investment.

    It’s interesting to see this article and realize that there are others with similar experiences. Hopefully it will raise some awareness and people can avoid this guy. Or better yet, he gets his act together and gets a job–perhaps as a construction worker!!

  5. I picked this guy up on the corner of Lorain and w150th. Gave him a ride down the street to BP. He smelled terrible and had some off the wall story about his truck being broke down. By the time we got to BP he asked me for $5 to replace some part on his truck then i knew this guy was just some POS bum.

  6. I picked this guy up once about 8 years ago from the public square area. Said something about needing a ride to the construction crew. Then something about a piece of rebar puncturing his tire. Then something about needing gas. I remember I was transporting a cake in my front seat and he had to hold it lol. I dropped him off at the BP downtown and I think he still owes me $20. Then he tried the same thing with my buddy a few months later but I was able to warn him.

  8. I couldn’t believe it when I saw this story, I’ve picked this dude up before too. I was stopping for gas at the BP on Richmond and Chagrin and he was standing by the pumps. I pulled up and he signaled for me to roll my window down, I thought he was going to tell me the pump was out of order. Needless to say I got some story about his truck being broken and him needing a ride to a store a “few blocks away”. The few blocks ended up being more like all the way to East Cleveland. He was pleasant to talk to and even pointed out cops for me (in hind sight that was probably more for his benefit than mine). I dropped him off at a gas station and gave him like $10. I’ve always felt ridiculous about the whole experience, glad I’m not alone.

  10. Man, I’m glad I’m not the only one who got scammed by this guy! He approached me on the intersection of Fairmount and Lee standing near some construction equipment. Had a hardhat and a vest and said he only needed to go down to the BP at Fairmount Circle. The light had just turned green, so I had to make a quick decision so I let him in. Soon after he had me drive past the BP and had me drive him into East Cleveland. He kept making up new destinations, until I dropped him off. Of course, when I dropped him off he asked me for $40. I gave him $10 (it was all that I had) and then watched him wander off. I always felt like such a dummy after that.

  11. GAHHH this guy! I fell into his trap last summer on my way to work. I was coming from Lakewood, by the Riverside 90 E on ramp and he flagged me down. Trying to be nice, I decided to give him a ride without much thought. The dude looked like an honest-to-god construction worker, and it helped sell it with all the recent road work being done at the time. He told me he was trying to get back to his work crew a few exits away, but before I even knew it we’re passing dead man’s curve and heading into a dicey part of town around Superior…he told me about his broke truck, and showed a lot of appreciation for giving him a lift, enjoyed the AC in my car, blah blah. All the while I’m starting to get nervous because I don’t know what hes really up to and if im going to be late for work. Finally, we get to a real gnarly street in East CLE and he gives me his number inviting me to drink beer with him and his girlfriend sometime, didn’t ask for any money and vanishes as soon as I pull away.

  12. These stories are great – luckily no harm came to the good Samaritans that helped this clown out. In the eyes of the court is the hard hat now considered a criminal tool for this guy?

  13. I too was had by this scam artist. Picked him up on E.9th. Smelled like b.o. and liquor. Dropped him off on Broadway after he asked for money for the Rapid.

  14. I’ve picked him up several times actually. He’s always said his name was TJ or CJ. I figured out halfway through the second time he was in character and this was his scam and then realized I’d picked him up before. The third and fourth times I picked him up were because he didn’t seem like too bad of a guy and he has very elaborate back stories. They aren’t always the most sensible. One time he needed money for bondo because he had dinged the bumper of his work truck and had to fix it before his boss saw at the end of the day. That was around 5 or 6 pm because I was coming home from my own construction job. I remember thinking to myself “That’s not how that works. None of this makes sense. He should work on this a bit.” I hadn’t seen him in a couple years, but thought I saw him milling around by the construction on Lakeside downtown not too long ago. I didn’t talk to him, but felt some kind of weird, sentimental nostalgia. I’ve probably given him about $40 in all our interactions. I thought of him last year when I read “The Man With the Twisted Lip”. The character Neville St. Clair brought TJ (Mr. Honey, apparently) to mind. It registered that I hadn’t seen him in a while and I hoped he was okay.

  16. Me too. Said some rebar punctured the gas tank of his work vehicle. Jumped in front of me but the back of my car and front seat were filled to the brink with stuff. He said to just move some stuff over. Jeez. He said what’s this world coming to he served in Iraq blah blah blah. He was really mad at me but I just drove away. I knew it had to be a scam. He killed his chances at any help at all when he started with all kinds of racist crap about the people who weren’t helping him.

  18. I don’t know why y’all are complaining about this guy. I picked him up and he gave me a shampoo and a haircut, cooked me a gourmet dinner and left $500 on the car seat when he got out in Gates Mills. I thought he was terrific.

  19. I picked him up 5 years ago a public square and drove him to the giant eagle in independence. This dood doesnt need Uber with all us ignorant fools picking him up.

  20. HOLY SHIT!!! This is the most unbelievable thread I’ve ever seen. Now you know why the guy continues to do this stuff…..because it obviously works. Look at these comments! I’m blown away that anyone would do anything but step on the gas and blow through a red light when this guy…ANY guy…. banged on your window. Wild…..

  21. I ran into this guy last night. He was fully dressed in reflective safety gear with a head lamp. But he was wearing sunglasses in the dark around 7:00 pm. He was a concrete cutter and needed a ride to the gas station to pick up a crowbar from his coworkers because his truck broke down. He’s a Iraq vet and made a few racist comments. When I first told him I wouldn’t give him a ride he was disappointed and told me it didn’t have a grenade. I told him “good luck” and drove off.

  22. Wow. I really hope my husband doesn’t run into this guy. The verbal thrashing he would get lmao

  23. Beware he’s still at it. I’m pretty sure this is the guy that approached my vehicle alas I was about to leave the shell gas station off of 271 and on chagrin Blvd. He asked me where the nearest hardware store was located ( a little strange for a cronstruction worker to be asking some random joe)but told him I wasn’t from the area and promptly drove off. My only mistake was not calling the police immediately.

  24. He is still at it. Today I was eastbound on Chester and at 101st (by Rite Aid), that is a construction area right now. I saw him knocking on the window of the car in front of me and guy let him in.
    I pulled around and honked, the driver rolled his window down and I told him the guy was not a construction worker and tell him to get out of your car. The guy was trying to talk to me, he was on his cell phone, cars were honking, and Honey was telling him I was lying and that “everything is cool and not to listen to me.” It was an interesting scene.
    Over 8 years ago I picked this guy up on Chester eastbound around E55, he was in the middle of construction site. He gave the same story about his truck breaking down and needing money. I pulled over at the BP and told him to get out. He got aggressive and was trying act hostile to shake me down.
    Not cool.

  25. I picked him up today on Madison and W117 in Lakewood. He was near road construction and just walked up to my car and gave me the story. I lost $26 tonight and definitely learned my lesson. So many red flags went off for me but I genuinely thought I was doing a good thing for someone. I pulled over 5 minutes later and googled construction worker scams and this story came up. I pulled over a Lakewood police officer on 117th but he was busy looking for a guy with a gun…I last dropped Calvin off at Giant Eagle on 117th and so I went back there. Told the Cleveland police officer to which he told me there was nothing I could do. I then confronted Calvin as he was still in the parking lot. He refused to give me my money back. What a scum bag, just hope it comes back to get him in life. Very disappointed we had an opportunity to catch him and neither city cared.

  26. I picked CJ up too. Winter 2014/15 on Lorain near W143rd. Lorain goess under RR tracks. I was heading west sitting under the RR bridge waiting for the light to change. CJ is under the bridge and gets my attention. He says rebar cut open his truck’s gas tank as he was plowing the car lot on the corner. Wants me to take him to the gas station up the street. It’s starting to snow and he’s in his disguise. I told him no at first but he retorts with with something like, ‘if i was going to do something to you, do you really think I’d be dressed like this?’. Like a goof I let him in. He had me go down 150th to the BP at 71. As we get close to the BP he changes his mind and wants to go farther south on 150th. At that point I dropped him off at the speedway. I gave him $2. Live an learn.

  27. I ran into this guy on chester and 9th downtown today. He asked for a ride to the gas station a few blocks north. Same story as everyone else… Construction crew is up the street and his truck brokedown. I didn’t really believe the story since it is a Sunday but like to help out when I can.

    I gave him a ride and he started to change his story asking to go to Strongsville. At this point I became uncomfortable and wasn’t about to give him a ride to a second much further destination. I told him to get it and he tried to convince to take him further.

    If he were honest I may have taken him where he was trying to go.

  28. I’m not even sorry people got conned by this moron. If you pick up a hitchhiker, what happens to you is squarely on you. It’s 2017, don’t pick up strangers you idiots.

  29. This guy is still at it! Got me by the Cleveland Clinc the other day and told me to drop him off at the nearest gats station for his truck to get gas. I started noticing his story didnt check out as I pried for answers and he got nervous and told me to drop him off. He asked for money and I told him I had no cash. By this time I was practically in East Cleveland. He was in full construction gear like everyone else said. Used the same story as everyone else mentioned.

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