Police: It Looks Like the Felony Lane Gang Is Back

Recent car break-ins on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Cherry Lawn Park (the second time windows of several vehicles were smashed at the park) look like the work of the Felony Lane Gang, Darien police said Friday in an announcement.

Police said that in the past week break-ins that also look like the work of the gang have occurred in “dozens of similar incidents” in other area communities. Unauthorized charges have been made to credit cards and debit cards stolen from purses in the vehicles, also a mark of the gang.

The brief statement on Friday said that cars in the parking lots of fitness clubs, parks and day-care centers are typically targeted. Police have said in the past that some signs of a Felony Lane Gang crime are the absence of a rock or other item left behind at the scene that was used to break open a window, grabbing purses and sometimes other items.

If purses or other valuables that can be seen from outside a vehicle are kept in a trunk, that may reduce the risk of a break-in, although in one case at Sleeping Giant State Park in Connecticut, a vehicle was broken into so that a trunk could be opened from inside — the purse had been put in the trunk after the vehicle was parked there, and thieves may have seen that happening.

Here’s the full statement from Darien police (from the department’s Facebook timeline):

On Oct. 31, 2015 at approximately 2:45 p.m., the Darien Police Department received a report that four smash and grab type motor vehicle burglaries occurred in the parking lot of Cherry Lawn Park located at 120 Brookside Road.  All four vehicles had purses stolen from the vehicles.

The M.O. of the four burglaries strongly resembles that used by the “Felony Lane Gang.”  This group originates out of Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. but is known to frequent our area and was confirmed committing burglaries in Darien as recently as five weeks ago.

The “Felony Lane Gang” is active in every state along the east coast and typically uses rental cars to target fitness center parking lots, parks, and daycare centers where purses and other valuables are regularly left behind in vehicles.

We’ve also learned that dozens of similar incidents have occurred in surrounding towns within the last week and that fraudulent bank transactions have now been made against the victim’s accounts incurring thousands of dollars in losses.

These incidents are currently under investigation by the Darien Police Detective Division.  If anyone has information pertaining to these crimes they are urged to contact this agency at 203-662-5330.

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