Not locking the doors of a 2015 BMW resulted in a thief entering it overnight Sunday to Monday, March 14 to 15.
Leaving the keys inside resulted in the thief driving off in the car.
But having a nearly empty gas tank seems to have resulted in the thief leaving the car by the side of the road, not far away from the driveway at 49 Echo Drive. At least that’s what the owner thought after he spotted his car the next morning.
He called police at 7:08 a.m. Police didn’t say that anything had been stolen from the car.
Over the period from March 14 to March 21 or 22, according to police, 20 vehicles were entered overnight outside 18 homes on Echo Drive, Lake Drive, Wakemore Street, Relihan Road, Sherry Lane, Hillside Avenue, Beach Drive, Hilton Street, Herman Avenue, Edgerton Street and Indian Spring Trail.
Police did not specify that all the vehicles had been unlocked, but they also didn’t indicate any evidence, like glass left behind, that any of the vehicles were broken into — an extremely rare occurrence.
In some cases, wallets left inside vehicles resulted in the thefts of gift cards and use of bank cards. Twenty gift cards valued at a total of $2,000 were stolen from one vehicle on Indian Spring Trail. Some of the thefts were minor: sunglasses or, in one case, a first aid kit.
Hundreds of dollars in cash were taken from some vehicles, and bank cards were taken from wallets and in some cases used that night and the next day — in Norwalk, Fairfield, Bridgeport and Milford.
Editor’s note: On two different afternoons in the same time period as the thefts mentioned in this article, two SUVs, each in a parking lot at a Darien club, were entered and had items taken from them. Police didn’t give any indication that those daytime thefts appear to be related to the thefts reported here, which seem to have occurred on various nights.
List of Incidents
Here’s the police breakdown of the thefts, by address. In some cases, the incidents were reported late the next day and might not have occurred overnight:
SUNDAY to MONDAY, March 14-15
Wakemore Street, Echo Drive, Echo Drive North, Lake Drive
—31 Wakemore St. — 2020 VW Atlas, 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee — Stolen: $300 in cash, bank cards, and identification. One bank card had attempted/declined uses around 5 a.m. in Bridgeport.
—7 Echo Drive — 2012 Audi Q5 — Stolen: a wallet holding $100, bank cards, and identification cards. Bank cards were used at two unknown locations at 6 a.m.
—59 Echo Drive North — 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee — Nothing reported stolen
—34 Lake Drive — 2015 BMW X5 — Nothing reported stolen
WEDNESDAY to THURSDAY, March 17-18
Relihan Road, Sherry Lane, Hillside Avenue, Beach Drive, Indian Spring Trail
—28 Relihan Road — 2014 Acura MDX — Stolen: a wallet containing $400 cash, bank cards and identification. One of the cards had been used in several transactions, including at an Exxon gas station in Fairfield at 4:13 a.m. and a McDonalds in Milford at 5:28 a.m.
—17 Sherry Lane — 2008 Honda Pilot — Nothing reported stolen
—52 Relihan Road — 2017 Audi Q7, 2021 BMW X3 — Nothing reported stolen
—25 Hillside Ave. — 2018 Jeep Wrangler — Nothing reported stolen
—15 Sherry Lane — 2018 GMC Yukon — Nothing reported stolen
—26 Beach Drive — 2018 GMC Yukon — Nothing reported stolen
—29 Indian Spring Trail — 2016 Acura MDX — Stolen: 20 gift cards with a total value of $2,000
SATURDAY to SUNDAY, March 20-21
Hilton Street, Herman Avenue, Indian Spring Trail
—48 Hilton St. — 2011 Audi Q5 — Nothing reported stolen —
Officers were dispatched here after 3:03 a.m., when a neighbor reported seeing two people at this address who appeared to be entering the homeowner’s vehicle. Officers checked the area and were unable to locate the individuals. The victim’s vehicle was found with the driver’s door ajar.
—39 Hilton St. — 2018 Audi Q5 — Nothing reported stolen
—45 Hilton St. — 2019 Chevrolet Traverse — Stolen: a first aid kit
—49 Hilton St. — 2017 Jeep Wrangler — Nothing reported stolen
—49 Herman Ave. — 2020 Honda Accord — Stolen: a purse holding bank cards
—21 Indian Spring Trail — 2007 Ford F150 — Nothing reported stolen (Could this have been on the night before, when another vehicle was entered on the same street?)
??? SUNDAY to MONDAY, March 21-22 ???
Edgerton Street
This was reported at 5:14 p.m., Monday. Police did not say the last time the owner had seen the sunglasses in the car, so we don’t know the time period when the theft took place.
—67 Edgerton St. — 2006 Chevy Silverado — Stolen: sunglasses