Police: On a Dead-End Street in Darien, Driving a Stolen Car from Stamford: Two Teens from Bridgeport

When a police officer stopped a car on a dead-end street just off the Post Road at 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, the driver and passenger turned out to be two 16-year-olds from Bridgeport, and the car turned out to have been stolen from Stamford, police said.

Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

While on routine patrol on the Post Road, a Darien police officer noticed three cars going east on the Post Road.

The officer was alert to any suspicious behavior at night because of the ongoing wave of car entries and thefts. So the officer followed in his patrol car when all three cars turned onto Salt Box Lane, a dead-end street in the same area where many of the burglaries and thefts have taken place, including several just last week.

As the patrol car approached the three vehicles, one of them made a sudden U-turn and went back onto the Post Road. The officer determined that registration for the vehicle, a black Honda Civic, had expired.

Both the driver and passenger in the vehicle, both teenagers, were “extremely uncooperative,” according to a police announcement. They gave several false identities.

Because the officer couldn’t identify them, both teens were put into custody and taken to Police Headquarters. A youth detective was called in.

Other police officers checked the area, and they found another of the three cars, a silver Honda Civic, abandoned in the middle of Saltbox Lane. Police determined that it had been stolen in Stamford. Police never found the third vehicle.

The youth detective spoke with both suspects and found out they were both 16-year-old Bridgeport teenagers. The black Honda Civic they were caught in had been stolen in Stamford.

Each of the teens was charged with two counts of third-degree larceny and interfering with a police officer’s investigation. They were released on promises to appear Sept. 1 in state Juvenile Court in Bridgeport.

Police issued this statement with the announcement of the arrests:

The Darien Police Department believes these juveniles could have played some part in the recent rash of motor vehicle burglaries in town. The Department will continue its heightened awareness and extra patrols in an attempt to curb future occurrences.

The Department would further like to take the opportunity to remind homeowners to please remember to lock their vehicles at night and take the keys inside.

The vast majority of the motor vehicle burglaries in town are from unlocked cars, just as thefts of motor vehicles are of vehicles with the keys left inside.