Did a Leaf Blower Bandit in a White Van Strike Again? A Second Landscaper Victimized

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A week after police were told a man in a white van suspiciously appeared near a pickup truck where a $600 leaf blower was quickly stolen, a similar theft of a leaf blower was perpetrated in town, and a white van was again seen nearby. Darien police gave this account of the second backpack leaf blower larceny:

A work truck was parked behind the stores at the corner of the Post Road and Noroton Avenue (at about 1981 Post Road) between 8 a.m., when a $650 RedMax Model 8500 backpack leaf blower was in it and 8:30 a.m. — when it was suddenly missing. Shortly after the theft was noticed, a male driving a white, unmarked van was seen leaving the scene. No surveillance video was available at the spot where the leaf blower was taken. Police are investigating the incident.

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Leaf Blower Stolen from Back of Landscaper’s Pickup: Victim Was Away for 15 Minutes

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A contractor told police he was away from his pickup truck for only 15 minutes when he returned to discover that a backpack leaf blower was stolen from it. The truck was parked at 590 Post Road on Wednesday morning, May 3, when the contractor left it at 8:45 a.m. and returned to find the leaf blower missing at 9 a.m. When the contractor arrived at the scene, all of his equipment was accounted for, according to the Darien police report. Police were told that soon after the landscaper arrived at the scene, a white Ford van pulled into the same lot and backed in next to the victim’s pickup. The van had left the area by the time the contractor got back to the truck. The driver of the van was described as a man with salt-and-pepper hair and similar facial hair, somewhere between 5 feet, nine inches and six feet in height and in his 30s or 40s.

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Landscaper’s Leaf Blower Stolen on Salt Box Lane

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When a landscaper and his crew were working in the back yard of a Salt Box Lane home on Wednesday, Oct. 5, someone stole a backpack leaf blower in the front yard, police were told. The leaf blower was sitting on a stone wall by the driveway entrance to the property and was stolen sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., police were told. The landscaper and his crew said they didn’t see or hear anything that might have been connected to the theft, and neighbors asked if they’d seen anything suspicious said they hadn’t. The leaf blower is a Red Max brand, model 7001, valued at $350.

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Town-Owned Leaf Blower Stolen, But Town Couldn’t Find Its Serial Number

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A leaf blower with an estimated value of $600 was stolen while a town Parks & Recreation Department crew was outside near Town Hall, but the department wasn’t able to provide police with the serial number for it (although they did provide a detailed description). Serial numbers are typically used by police when they happen to come across stolen property and want to find the owner, and Darien municipal departments typically keep a record of them, according to police. (Many municipal governments even tag property like chairs and desks to give them “serial” numbers, either for anti-theft purposes or just to identify them if they show up in the wrong place. The information also can be used potentially to find out how long a particular piece of equipment lasted.)

Although the serial number wasn’t available for police, the department was able to provide a good description of the equipment:  The Red Maxx brand backpack-style leaf blower, Model 8500 has the department’s name stenciled in black letters on it. Darien police say the theft was reported to them on Nov.

Pickup, Guns Stolen from Driveway — Was It the ‘Felony Lane Gang’?

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Darien police are looking into whether the “Felony Lane Gang,” which they say were stealing from cars in town, were also responsible for the theft of a pickup truck, two guns and landscaping equipment inside it on Brookside Road. The theft occurred from a driveway at 246 Brookside Road, seven tenths of a mile from Cherry Lawn Park (see map), where police believe members of the large organized gang of thieves stole from cars in the parking lot. Police say the thieves were driving a white Ford Explorer SUV

It was a day later and a short distance away that someone briefly parked what a witness said was a “white van” next to the truck, and, a couple of minutes later, both vehicles were driven away. The owner of the pickup truck says the keys were left in it, as was equipment for his landscaping business and two guns — a 9mm Beretta, fully loaded, and a Ruger brand Airsoft air rifle. The Beretta was behind the driver’s seat in a bag.