Do you have an Audi Q7 in the household? Check the back seats.
Someone whose Audi Q7 was parked in front of the Townhouse store at 35 Tokeneke Road on the late afternoon of Tuesday, Dec. 6, drove off. Which is, after all, what one does …
Then at some point, the oil painting mistakenly put in the back seat must’ve been noticed. It’s hard to avoid — it’s three feet wide by three feet tall. It had been put in the Audi Q7 by one of the co-owners. Her sister (the other co-owner) drives an Audi Q7 also parked near the store, which sells art.
Have you seen this oil painting? If so, please return it to its owners. If you’ve got an Audi Q7, check the back, please.
The painting, for whatever reason, was supposed to go with the second sister. So the first sister put the painting in the Audi Q7 parked near the store. Which, after all, is what one does.
It was about 4:45 p.m. and the daylight would’ve been fading. Who looks for a second Audi Q7, also unlocked? (This is Darien. People don’t lock their cars. After all, what could go wrong?)
The painting-placing sister realized that her sibling didn’t receive the work of art later on, after speaking with her sibling. The Audi Q7 into which the painting disappeared even had a Connecticut license plate number that looked like the one her sister’s car, the woman told police. The last three letters may have been “YZR,” she said.
That was about a week ago. The painting still hasn’t been returned. Perhaps the person who drove away had no idea where the painting may have come from.
Darien police wish for the finder to know that he or she was not gifted with that painting — a blue abstract work by Charlotte Sabbagh and valued at $1,500.
______________
Like this article? …
- Sign up for the Darienite.com weekday newsletter.
- Like Darienite.com on Facebook.
- Follow Darienite.com on Twitter.
______________
Police also wish to remind the finder that it is longstanding state law in Connecticut that a windfall like an item being placed in your car by mistake (or mailed to you, or items you’ve found floating, sitting, rolling, flying or otherwise falling into your possession) have put you into a legal obligation to return it to its owner or to police. It’s what one’s supposed to do.
Otherwise, you’ve committed a larceny.
And we don’t think your claiming that it was a Secret Santa gift is gonna fly in court. And “fell off a truck” has been used too many times.
On the other hand, returning it to the owners might well result in no charges being filed. And the Audi Q7 is a pretty big SUV. You can always claim that you just hadn’t noticed it way back there in your cavernous vehicle.
On the Police Department’s Facebook page, they’re promising a reward for the return of the painting:
[I]f anyone has seen it, please return!!
?? There will be a reward!!
Darien Police Captain Don Anderson recalls a woman who found a wedding ring at Goodwives Shopping Center. She turned it in to police, but no one claimed it. Six months later, it was hers, and it was worth tens of thousnds of dollars.