Darien police are looking into whether the “Felony Lane Gang,” which they say were stealing from cars in town, were also responsible for the theft of a pickup truck, two guns and landscaping equipment inside it on Brookside Road.
The theft occurred from a driveway at 246 Brookside Road, seven tenths of a mile from Cherry Lawn Park (see map), where police believe members of the large organized gang of thieves stole from cars in the parking lot. Police say the thieves were driving a white Ford Explorer SUV
It was a day later and a short distance away that someone briefly parked what a witness said was a “white van” next to the truck, and, a couple of minutes later, both vehicles were driven away. The owner of the pickup truck says the keys were left in it, as was equipment for his landscaping business and two guns — a 9mm Beretta, fully loaded, and a Ruger brand Airsoft air rifle. The Beretta was behind the driver’s seat in a bag.
The 60-year-old Stamford owner of a landscaping business had left the Ford F350 pickup truck in the driveway at about 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with the keys in the ignition. In the bed of the truck were a backpack leaf blower, the Ruger and shovels and picks. Also in the truck were two weed trimmers, one valued at $300, the other at $560.
A housekeeper on the property told police that about 1 p.m. she saw a white van pull into the driveway near the pickup, and then both vehicles left about two minutes later. She thought landscapers had taken the pickup away. After the owner saw the pickup was missing, he called police at 1:45 p.m.
A witness told police that the vehicle was seen that night at about 7 p.m. on Wahackme Road, near its intersection with Weed Street. New Canaan and then Darien Police became aware of the pickup’s location the next day. The keys were still in the ignition, but the guns and equipment were gone.