When Mekai Darden, 21, of Bridgeport showed up in court in that city on March 31, it was for motor vehicle violations that he didn’t need to be jailed for — but Darien police were there to arrest him on a warrant charging him with the theft of a sport utility vehicle.
He’s been in jail ever since, for about a week, in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:
Arrest photo from Darien P.D.
Mekai Darden, 21, charged with first-degree larceny in connection with the theft of an SUV in Darien on Feb. 6.
On Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, the owner of a Porsche Cayenne told police that the car was missing from his driveway on Contentment Island Road. The keys had been left in the unlocked vehicle the night before.
Surveillance video from a neighbor showed a male looking into vehicles at 1:30 a.m. that Sunday morning. At 2:19 p.m. the same day, New York State Police found the sport utility vehicle in North Salem, New York. Darien police detectives investigated the incident and came up with information resulting in the arrest warrant for Darden, a resident of Pixlee Place in Bridgeport.
A week after his arrest, Darden remained in jail. His next court date is May 16 in state Superior Court in Stamford.
The charges that he was appearing in at state Superior Court in Bridgeport related to driving without a driver’s license in an unregistered car with improper license plates and without insurance. State police had charged him on Jan. 23, about nine weeks before the theft in Darien. His next court date in that case is Thursday, April 14 — in about a week.