UPDATE: 4 Arrests After 14 Cars Entered Overnight, Four Stolen in Noroton Bay Area, Three Found Again

— See update, marked at bottom of article —

At least 14 unlocked vehicles parked at homes in the Noroton Bay neighborhood were entered overnight, possibly by teenagers or young men from Hartford looking to steal nice cars for joy riding, Darien police said.

Four vehicles with keys left inside them were taken sometime before dawn Monday morning, with one found around the corner from where it was parked, two others found (by 1 p.m.) in Hartford and the fourth still missing, police said.

At about 1 p.m., Darien police learned from Hartford police that officers in that city stopped one of the vehicles with three young men or teenagers in it, and charges are expected to be filed against at least one of them.

Darien police described the matter with this account (including accusations not proven in court):

Police believe the car thieves are among a group of teenagers or young men in a Hartford neighborhood who repeatedly go to upscale neighborhoods to find fancier cars to steal and ride around in before abandoning them in an area of Hartford. City police found a number of abandoned, stolen vehicles, including a BMW X5 sport utility vehicle stolen from Noroton Bay Monday morning.

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When Darien police registered one of the stolen cars, a Jeep Cherokee, with the NCIC national database for stolen vehicles, they immediately received a report from Hartford police that the vehicle (with the same license and description) had been engaged in a chase Monday morning with Hartford police.

The Jeep was driven onto Interstate 84 in Hartford, where it hit some construction equipment and continued fleeing. Police then broke off the chase because it seemed to be too dangerous.

But later in the day, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent spotted the car again. Hartford police again chased the vehicle and this time stopped it, taking the driver and two passengers into custody sometime shortly before 1 p.m. Charges are expected to be filed.

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See also:

• “Unlocked in Darien” — a sorry tradition in town
• New Canaan Police Chief Cautions Residents After Multiple Car Thefts in Darien (New Canaanite article, July 25)

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The fourth stolen vehicle, a BMW convertible, hasn’t turned up.

The owners of 10 other unlocked vehicles in the neighborhood told police they could tell their cars had been entered (because glove boxes had been rifled through or items inside were displaced) — but there were no reports of anything known to have been taken.

Police believe the thieves were only looking for cars to steal, although it’s possible something else might turn out to have been stolen.

UPDATE: Four Teens Arrested

Darien police announced four Hartford teenagers were arrested in connection with the thefts. Here’s the full news release with more details about the incident:

Shortly after 6 a.m. on July 25, 2016 this agency received a report of a stolen vehicle from a Mayflower Roasd residence in the Noroton Bay section of Darien.

While officers were investigating the car theft, it was determined that several other vehicles had been burglarized and that more vehicles had been stolen as well.  In all, four (4) vehicles were stolen and ten (10) vehicles were burglarized.

Investigation revealed that at approximately 4 a.m. at least three individuals began entering numerous unlocked parked vehicles in driveways and on the roads of Noroton Bay.  The individuals were searching for keys with the intent of stealing the vehicles.  The following vehicles were subsequently stolen from various Noroton Bay residences:

• 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee
• 2013 BMW X5
• 2012 Ford Edge
• 2009 BMW Convertible

A canvass of the area produced the stolen Ford Edge at the intersection of Nearwater Lane and Baywater Drive.  Detectives then learned that the BMW X5 had been involved in an evading motor vehicle accident at approximately 5:45 a.m. in Hartford.

Using the BMW Assist tracking system, Darien officers relayed the vehicle’s location to Hartford officers and it was subsequently recovered on Sherbrooke Avenue in Hartford.  The vehicle was unoccupied at the time.

At approximately 12 p.m. [noon] Hartford officers contacted Darien detectives and advised that they had located the stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee and attempted to stop it.

The vehicle engaged officers in pursuit but due to the dangerous nature, was terminated a short time later.  At 12:30 p.m. the vehicle was again located by Hartford Police and a Drug Enforcement Agent, and a second pursuit began.  Officers were then able to stop the vehicle and took four occupants into custody.

Arrested- Charges

• Driver: 17-year-old male juvenile from Hartford — larceny 1^st and numerous motor vehicle charges
• Passenger: 17-year-old male juvenile from East Hartford — larceny by possession
• Passenger: Gerald Jackson ,19-year-old male from Hartford — interfering with an officer
• Passenger: Katarina Harris 19-year-old female from New Britain — interfering with an officer

These individuals are known to be part of a group that targets neighborhoods in which residents leave their vehicles unlocked and with the keys in them.  The vehicles are later sold on the street and used to facilitate narcotic sales and often are involved in police pursuits.

As a reminder, residents are urged to lock their vehicles at all times while unattended and never to leave the car keys inside.

All four arrested subjects remain in the custody of the Hartford Police Department.