When a resident of an Oak Crest home stopped by the house at 7:30 p.m. Friday before heading off to join his family out of state, he discovered that the rear patio doors were wide open, Darien police were told.
But he saw a good sign — a laptop was in plain view and it wasn’t taken. He thought that probably meant nothing was taken, and he left the house, never calling police. Apparently he didn’t check further, because bedrooms were ransacked and jewelry and other items were gone.
In fact, the family gave police a preliminary estimate that $20,000 worth of their property had been stolen.
The man’s wife and children had left the house at 2 p.m. Friday. When the man told his wife about the open doors, she called police from out of state. Police were given permission to enter the house and look around, and that’s when the ransacking was discovered.
Several flower vases were taken from the living room on the first floor; in one room, a desk had been knocked over with drawers open and a desktop computer was missing. In the master bedroom, jewelry boxes had been emptied and jewelry was missing from a closet and from a closet in the master bedroom bathroom.
Two other bedrooms were in disarray, with headphones missing from one.
Police said another burglary took place the same day on Oak Crest, but they didn’t immediately have details about it. Police are investigating both incidents.