'Absolute Menace' In Darien Neighborhood

DARIEN, IL – Darien's slogan is that it is "a nice place to live." But that may not have applied to the 900 block of 69th Street over the last month.

Residents near 69th and Ironwood Avenue are complaining about a 56-year-old man who started living with his elderly father in late June.

Over four days in late July, the man was charged twice with disorderly conduct after he played loud music late into the night, police said.

At Monday's City Council meeting, Noel and Claudia Manley, who live across the street from the man, spoke about the problem. A letter from another couple was read into the record.

Weeks ago, Noel Manley said he walked across the street to ask the 56-year-old to turn down the music. He made the same request a couple of days later. He said he did not involve the police.

"It went downhill from there," Manley said. "(He) engaged in a series of acts intended to intimidate, menace and terrorize every resident on 69th Street and Ironwood Avenue, playing loud music throughout the day and riding an electric bike up and down the street, cutting off cars, including my wife's."

He also said he and his neighbors suspected the man was behind other crimes in the neighborhood over the last month.

When the police show up, Manley said the man follows a familiar pattern: He threatens to sue officers, screams, babbles and rides his electric bike in front of officers.

"He would stop by the police cruisers and assert the cruisers were his cruisers because he had paid taxes, although he had only been in the area since June," Manley said.

He said the police need more tools to deal with such people, calling the man an "absolute menace."

"I haven't had a decent night's sleep in six weeks, nor has my wife," he said

The Manleys indicated the 56-year-old was recently evicted.

Claudia Manley said the police have come to the neighborhood so often in the last month that she believes she knows every officer on the force.

"This is a danger to the community," said Claudia Manley, a former member of the Hinsdale High School District 86 board. "We are very fearful that there is something going to happen to one of us."

Darien officials did not respond to the comments about the 56-year-old man.