Man, 28, tears down stop sign at Bainbridge and Barrington in 'fit of rage'

Zachary Richard Conn was arguing with a woman when he snapped the stop sign/street sign off at its base and threw it, according to a Sheriff's Office report.

By Jonathan Simmons
| 7:33 p.m. April 25, 2016

Zachary Richard Conn (Photo courtesy of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office)

Palm Coast Observer
News

Someone called 911 April 24 after seeing the male half of an arguing couple snap a stop sign off at its base "in a fit of rage" and throw it down the street at the intersection of Bainbridge Lane and Barrington Drive, according to a Sheriff's Office report.

When deputies arrived at about 7:30 p.m., they found Zachary Richard Conn, 28, in a car outside. Deputies told him to stay in the car, but he tried to run into a house on Bainbridge, according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office charging affidavit.

Deputies charged Conn with felony criminal mischief, felony grand theft and resisting arrest without violence. They also charged his father — 54-year-old Russell Edward Conn, who they'd heard yelling for his son to run into the house when police were trying to stop him — with resisting arrest without violence.

"The theft of the stop sign resulted in a temporary interruption of safe traffic control for the intersection and jeopardized the safety of the general public," a deputy wrote in a charging affidavit.

A Palm Coast Public Works employee told deputies that the sign post, which carried the stop sign and also the two street signs, will cost $500-$600 to replace once the cost of the materials and labor — including the time taken for a city employee to set up a temporary sign April 24 — are factored in.