How Throwing Screw Got Darien Man In Trouble: Cops

DARIEN, IL — Darien resident Frank Coco was cited late last month on a charge of disorderly conduct. His alleged crime — throwing a screw on a neighbor's driveway.

On June 29, Darien police received a call from a resident in the 8500 block of Evergreen Lane. He said he had been having an ongoing issue with a neighbor, identified as Frank Coco, 55. The neighbor told officers that he counted 24 screws on his driveway, but none on any of his neighbors' driveways, according to a police report obtained through a public records request.

The resident's doorbell camera showed Coco sweeping at the end of his driveway, bending down, picking something up and making a gesture consistent with throwing something on the neighbor's driveway, the report said.

The video then shows a small object in the neighbor's driveway that appeared to be one of the blue screws later found, police said. The resident told officers he drove over the screws, but his tires were not damaged.

In an interview with police, Coco admitted to sweeping his driveway, but denied throwing anything on his neighbor's, the report said. An officer noticed a camera above Coco's garage, but Coco said he would need help to retrieve the footage.

A few days later, Coco called police to say he obtained the video footage. The video showed Coco sweeping with such force that the broom came up to his hip. Coco said he was sweeping screws that he found on his property. He told police he had an issue with the report because it said he threw screws on his neighbor's driveway, police said. An officer told him that the neighbor's video showed him throwing something.

The officer then asked Coco why he would sweep with such force. He responded that he understood and should have swept up the screws and thrown them out, according to the report.

In 2005, DuPage County Court found Coco, then a 40-year-old Darien resident, guilty of official misconduct and aggravated battery in a public place. According to the Chicago Tribune, Coco was sentenced to three years in prison.

The newspaper reported that Coco, then a state Department of Transportation employee, impersonated a state police officer, flashed his badge at a driver and pulled the person from his car.