Darien Police Charge Homeless Man, 48, with Slew of Vehicle Burglaries

Not only was Joel Mackinnon, a 48-year-old homeless Stamford man, entering unlocked vehicles in Darien and taking things from them — when he found keys inside, he was stealing at least one vehicle, said Darien police, who arrested him early Wednesday morning.

Police have been investigating more than 20 burglaries to vehicles (all or almost all of them unlocked) in the past two weeks. Here’s how they say they arrested Mackinnon, in an account which has not been proven in court:

Darien Police Department arrest photo of Joel Mackinnon, 48, of Stamford, charged in connection with motor vehicle burglaries and the theft of a pickup truck.

Just after 3 a.m. on Wednesday, an officer patrolling Hollow Tree Ridge Road near Patton Drive saw a parked vehicle blocking the entire travel portion of Patton Drive. As the officer drove by, a suspect fled the scene.

After the officer approached the vehicle, a 2012 Ford F-150 pickup truck, it was determined that someone was trying to steal it from a nearby driveway.

Searching the area, police found that eight unlocked vehicles on Patton Drive and nearby Charles Street had been burglarized — the second time in six days that vehicles on the street had been entered by a thief.

Police continued looking around the area for a suspect and came across Mackinnon on the train station platform. He told police that he lives at the homeless shelter on Pacific Street in Stamford, and officers found out that arrest warrants for him have been issued, charging him with failing to appear in court.

Mackinnon was arrested, and officers found items on him that were “possibly proceeds from the car burglaries that had just taken place.” Police confirmed a short time later that the items did belong to victims of that night’s burglaries.

 Mackinnon was charged with first-degree larceny, eight counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of sixth-degree laerceny and two counts of second-degree failure to appear in court.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Mackinnon was still in custody at Darien Police Headquarters, where he’s being held on a $28,500 bond. Police are still looking into whether or not he is responsible for the slew of other recent motor vehicle burglaries in town.

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Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that other motor vehicles had been stolen during the thefts from unlocked vehicles. In fact, no other vehicles were stolen.