Overnight Thefts Continue from Unlocked Darien Vehicles, Two Teens Arrested

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Editor’s note: This article has been updated near the bottom:

More unlocked cars and SUVs have been entered overnight, not only in Noroton but at the Kensett houses much farther north and on Rocaton Road in the central part of town, according to police reports.

A total of 10 different people have been either seen on video surveillance, arrested or stopped by police late at night. Some of these people — including two arrested teenagers and three others dressed all in black and stopped by police on the Post Road — were mentioned in a police announcement last week.

Police gave a bit more information on the circumstances surrounding two teenagers arrested after one of them was spotted on the Post Road near motor vehicle burglaries. Police also gave out more information about stopping a young man and two teenagers all in black as they ran along the Post Road just after 12 midnight on Thursday, Feb. 23.

In several of the incidents described below, no names are mentioned, either because the person charged is a juvenile (and police don’t give out those names) or because no charges were filed against people police stopped — but each of the unnamed people mentioned is different from all the others; no one mentioned in one incident is known to have been a part of any of the others, police said.

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These are the incidents related to motor vehicle thefts in the order in which they were reported to police (or, in some cases, when police saw them); any charges included in police descriptions related below are based on accusations not proven in court:

2:33 AM, Tue., Feb. 21

Police, who have been watching the area of the Post Road near Stamford, saw two teenage boys from Stamford walking east along the road near the Waters Edge at Giovanni’s restaurant at 2748 Post Road. Each of the boys was wearing dark clothing.

When a police officer spoke with them, the boys said they were just going for a walk to no specific place. Police explained to them that they were being detained because of ongoing burglaries and thefts in the area.

Police didn’t charge them but didn’t release them until about 3 a.m. Their names and other information were given to Darien Police youth officers.

Overnight, Tue. to Wed., Feb 21 to 22

An unlocked SUV parked outside of 32 Stanton Road was entered overnight, but nothing was taken.

A 63-year-old Darien man told police that at about 7 a.m., he noticed his 2000 Chevrolet K-1500 Suburban had a passenger-side door ajar and the hood was partly opened. The SUV had been closed up when he parked it at 9 p.m. the previous night. The glove box and center console had been riffled through.

A second vehicle in the driveway was also unlocked, but there was no sign that it had been entered. Police went to neighbors’ houses to see if anyone knew of anything suspicious, but that effort turned up nothing.

Also Overnight, Tue. to Wed., Feb 21 to 22

A black 2016 Audi Q5 valued at $42,000 was stolen from outside a home at 15 Rocaton Road in the central part of Darien sometime between 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21 and 7:15 a.m. the next morning, when its owner discovered it wasn’t there.

[Update: The car was found in Bridgeport on Monday, Feb. 27.]

The 59-year-old victim told police that the car was unlocked and one of the sets of keys was missing, possibly because it had been left in the vehicle. The family heard nothing unusual overnight.

The car had been parked outside sometime around 3:30 to 4 p.m. the previous afternoon, and a family member had arrived home at about 9 p.m. and believes the car was still there at the time.

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A 2009 Honda Odyssey also parked outside the home had a driver’s side door ajar. The car had been unlocked overnight. Nothing was missing from it in the morning, and there was no evidence anything inside had been riffled through.

A canvass of neighbors turned up no information — except for the next incident, described just below.

Yet Again Also Overnight, Tue. to Wed., Feb 21 to 22

When police conducted the neighborhood canvas regarding the stolen Audi on Rocaton Road, they found a 2006 Lexus LS 430 that had been parked outside unlocked overnight had an open glovebox that had been riffled through. Nothing appears to have been taken.

The car had been parked at 9:30 p.m., Tuesday and at about 7:30 a.m. the next day was discovered to have been entered.

12:04 AM, Thurs., Feb 23

Last week, Darien police briefly described this incident in a news release about the (apparently unrelated) arrests of two teenagers on burglary charges:

Police saw a group of males running west on the Post Road (toward Stamford) from a spot near Beach Drive.

Police stopped two teenage boys and one 21-year-old man. Two of the three told police they had been at a friends house in Stamford and decided to go jogging. The third said he had been walking back to Stamford and came upon the other two, then decided to go back to Stamford with them.

Police contacted the parents of the teenagers, one 17 years old, the other 16. One of the boys is on juvenile probation, the other was “on the cusp” of juvenile probation. Probation officers were contacted for the boy on probation, and the Darien Youth Bureau was told about the incident for possible follow-up inquiries.

Here’s how Darien police described this incident in the Feb. 24 news release:

During the surveillance operation, three other Stamford men were observed dressed in all black and running along the Post Road near the Stamford town line. They were also detained by undercover officers.

Although these subjects all had significant criminal histories involving violent felonies, there was no probable cause to connect them to any recent criminal history and they were released from the scene.

It is presumed that the officers who detained these subjects located them prior to them having any opportunity to engage in criminal activity. This information was also passed along to the Stamford Police Department.

About 1 AM, Thurs., Feb 23

Police on Monday released more information on this incident described last week in a police news release:

About $27 in change and 52 lottery tickets were stolen when unlocked vehicles were entered outside a home at 2735 Post Road, and police found one of the juveniles at the scene.

At about 1 a.m., officers saw a male leaving the driveway of the home and saw a bicycle near the sidewalk. They detained the juvenile and found that two unlocked vehicles had been entered.

The 17-year-old boy admitted he stole the bicycle in Stamford. Police took him to Darien Police Headquarters, and his parents were contacted. Later the teenager admitted to entering cars in Stamford and Darien on previous nights. Stamford police were notified. The boy was charged with third-degree burglary and sixth-degree larceny. He was given a summons to appear in Juvenile Court in Stamford.

The teenager also identified another Stamford teenager, also 17, as being involved in at least some of the same incidents.

Officers went to the home of that teenager, interviewed one of the boy’s parents and issued the boy a juvenile summons charging the boy with third-degree burglary and ordering him to Juvenile Court in Stamford.

Darien police are also looking into the possible involvement of a third Stamford boy, 16 years old.

UPDATE: 11:59 PM, Thu., Feb 23

Darien police announced the information in this section at 1:30 p.m., Monday, after this article was published:

A man was reported standing near the intersection of the Post Road and Lighthouse Way for about 30 minutes before midnight.

Police found the man, Godfrey King, 51, of West Main Street in Stamford, in a private driveway about 40 feet from the roadway. He told the officers he was walking to Stamford and didn’t realize he was on private property.

Police found that King was wanted on an arrest warrant from Norwalk Police Department charging him with violation of probation in a case that started with an arrest for third-degree assault on Oct. 11, 2014.

King was taken to Darien Police Headquarters and held on a court-set bond of $10,000. The next day, he was taken to court.

Apparently Around 4 AM, Sun., Feb 25 to 26

Unlocked vehicles parked outside three homes on Kensett Lane were entered overnight, and a man was seen on video surveillance going into two vehicles.

At 27 Kensett Lane, a 56-year-old man had parked his white 2014 Nissan Rogue outside at 7 p.m. on Saturday, then returned at 8 a.m. the next day to find that a pair of black Oakley sunglasses valued at $200 had been taken, along with about $4 in loose change.

At 39 Kensett Lane, a 44-year-old man parked his unlocked, blue 2013 Jeep Wrangler outside at about 10 p.m., Saturday and returned at about 10 a.m. the next day. The vehicle had been riffled through, but nothing appared to be taken.

At 38 Kensett Lane, a 44-year-old woman had parked her unlocked 2015 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban overnight and in the morning found the front passenger door ajar. Inside, things had been riffled through, but nothing appeared to have been taken.

But this resident had a surveillance camera, and it showed a suspect: He appears to be an older, white man wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt, with black sneakers that have white soles. The video recorded him at 4:10 a.m.