Darienite (https://darienite.com/tag/darien-motor-vehicle-thefts-2024)
Leaving your 2014 Mercedes-Benz E350 unlocked running while you go inside a building is asking for trouble. And trouble answered outside Darien Library when the vehicle was stolen sometime before 6:09 p.m. (when police were dispatched) on Friday the 13th.
While the owner was playing golf at Woodway Country Club late in the day on Saturday, Aug. 24, someone stole his car, he told Darien police. The car, a 2018 Audi S5, was reported stolen from the club at 540 Hoyt St. just before 7:25 p.m. It had been left unlocked with the keys inside.
Since June, there have been a higher than usual number of vehicles stolen in Darien — a total of 18 as of four days ago, Darien police announced. In response, police are suggesting various tips, at least one of which is probably new to you. Along with the car thefts, numerous vehicles have been entered, often with thefts of things inside, police said. (A long list of the incidents since July 25 is at the bottom of this article.)
In almost all cases, keys had been left inside the vehicle, police said, adding, “it is important to note” that stolen vehicles are often used in serious crimes in other cities and towns across the state. Obvious and Not-so-Obvious Tips for Protecting Your Property
Darien police recommend that drivers adopt these habits to foil car thieves:
Although you’ve probably heard these before …
From early morning on Wednesday, July 3 to late in the day on Friday, July 5, four vehicles were entered in town, three were stolen, including one from a supermarket parking lot, and two were found — one close by and the other in Bridgeport, police said. SUV Entered: Early Morning, July 3 — Hope Drive
The owner of a 2016 Volvo XC90 told police that the SUV had been entered in the early morning by a suspect dressed in black. Police were called and spoke to the owner at about 1 p.m. on July 4. The victim discovered that the vehicle had been entered and rifled through. Nothing was reported stolen.
Thieves, possibly different ones, entered two Audis the same night on different streets in Darien overnight Wednesday to Thursday, June 25 to 26. One on Deepwood Road was unlocked, apparently with the keys inside; thieves tried to steal another on Middlesex Road, but weren’t able to start the car, police were told. Police gave this further account:
The theft on Deepwood Road happened sometime overnight. The owner said a second set of keys may have been left in the Audi A5. Shortly after the car was reported stolen at 5:45 a.m., state police reported they’d found it eight miles away, left by the northbound lanes of Merritt Parkway, at Exit 39 just north of the Darien border.
When police officers questioned one of the drivers involved in a traffic accident at 10:42 p.m. on Saturday, he wouldn’t identify himself, then he asked officers if they knew anything about “hydraulics” and pointed to the stick shift, and officers concluded he was having trouble using it, police said. The police account, which includes accusations not proven in court, indicates that the traffic accident may have been the least of what was going on that night. Police noticed the driver, Diamond Samuel, 24, was wearing hospital scrubs and a hospital bracelet. Asked where he was coming from, the Brooklyn resident pointed to a house on Lakeside Avenue. Police determined that the vehicle was owned by a resident there.
A 2021 BMW X3 was stolen at about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 24 from the driveway of a home on Stephen Mather Road, the owner reported to Darien police. Surveillance video shows a suspect entering the passenger side of the vehicle and then speed off. The vehicle had been left parked in the driveway with the keys left inside.