Man Found Guilty of Beating Neighbor with Garden Rake

Joliet, IL- Wednesday was the trial for defendant Daniel Coffey, now 64, who was accused and arrested for an attack on his neighbor, Patrick Washam, now 63, after he attacked him with a rake during a backyard altercation.

The attack took place on April 25, 2017 between Murphy Drive and Rosary Lane after the two got into an argument when Washam was sprayed in the face with weed killer and was hit repeatedly with a garden rake. Coffey was later arrested for battery and taken to the Will County Detention Center. Mark Shlifka and Jacob Kreutzer prosecuted Coffey on behalf of the Will County State's Attorney's Office. The attack was captured on a video surveillance set up in the backyard belonging to Washam.

According to Shlifka, everyone knows not to take your anger out on other people, especially in a physical way. “That lesson was lost by Mr. Coffey on April 25, 2017. One person uses his fist. One person uses a weapon. One person gets injured.” That was what he told the jury during Wednesday’s trial, as an argument between two neighbors shouldn’t result in being sprayed and beaten with gardening tools.

The Joliet Patch wrote that during opening statements Wednesday, Assistant State's Attorney Shlifka told the jury how: "Patrick Washam is going to tell you, he was tending to his lawn, minding his own business," when he was attacked while putting weed spray on the ground of his lawn.

On Friday, after five hours of deliberation, Coffey and his criminal defense lawyer Jeff Tomczak of Tomczak Law Group learned the jury had reached a unanimous verdict. Coffey was found guilty of committing battery. The sentencing will be held at a later date and time.

"Illinois is a stand your ground state," Tomczak explained to the jury. "I'm confident at the close of the case that they have not met this extreme burden." However, the jury didn’t agree with Tomczak’s arguments and his cline t was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt but the jurors.