Crime & Safety

Cops: Darien Man Decides to Run Over Go-Slow Sign in Front of Kids

Trouble with a neighbor leads to trouble with police, according to a Darien police report.

A Darien man said he deliberately mowed down a neighbor's sign asking drivers to slow down, about 15 feet away from the playing children, while driving his pickup truck home, according to police.

The man said he hit the sign, which caught under his 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche, a pickup truck, typically with four doors, and was dragged into his own driveway on Glenwood Drive, because his neighbor irritated him and the sign created a traffic hazard, a police report said.

Because he drove on after hitting the sign and because children were nearby, police said, they charged Marc Devico, 49, with evading the scene of a motor vehicle accident (a misdemeanor) and risk of injury to a minor (a felony).

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Four girls — ages 2, 6, 10 and 14 — were playing hopscotch in the driveway and on or near the street when Devico drove up in the pickup truck and ran over the sign.

The girls were about 15 feet away when the sign was hit, and then the distance grew as it got caught under the truck and was dragged about 80 yards into Devico's nearby driveway. Devico said he'd been drinking earlier.

Another neighbor heard the noise and looked out his window to see Devico stumble out of his car and into his house. He said Devico came back out a few minutes later and removed the sign from under the truck.

One of the children ran into her home to tell her mother what happened. The mother called police, who, when they arrived at the scene, saw the sign on the ground near Devico's pickup in front of his house.

Police had been to the house before — in fact, they had kept it under surveillance for a drug investigation in which Devico's wife, Maria, had been arrested in February. (Marc Devico was not charged with anything as a result of that investigation, and Maria Devico had no known involvement in this incident, according to police.)

In speaking with Devico, a police officer noticed the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. Asked if he had been drinking, Devico said he wasn't going to answer that. Devico was not charged with driving while intoxicated.

Devico was arrested, taken to police headquarters and later released on $50 bond. He is scheduled to appear June 9 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

He is also scheduled to appear June 17 in the same court in connection with three separate charges: one involved a disorderly conduct charge (from Darien police) in October 2012, the other two were said to be violations of protective orders, resulting in charges in May 2013 (from Stamford police) and last February (from Darien police).

He has pleaded guilty to all three charges, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website. Maria Devico has pleaded not guilty to marijuana possession and drug selling charges, and her cases are still pending in court.


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