Darien Motor Vehicles Entered 2017

WORSE THAN EVER: 22 Motor Vehicle Burglaries in Darien on Three Nights Last Week

Two Unlocked Cars Stolen Last Week, One Found with GPS; and Five More Vehicles Entered

Here’s Where 3 Unlocked Vehicles Were Recently Entered in Darien, Items Stolen from Two

Multiple Motor Vehicles Entered Overnight in Two Areas of Darien

Sunglasses, iPhone Stolen from Unlocked Car on Sedgewick Ave

Only One Unlocked Car Entered Overnight in Darien As of March 1 — But an Above-Average Haul

Police Chief on Recent Car Burglary Spree: 2 Arrests Helped, Other Towns Getting Similar Burglaries

Car Stolen on Rocaton Road Last Week Found Monday in Bridgeport

Overnight Thefts Continue from Unlocked Darien Vehicles, Two Teens Arrested

After 20 Vehicles Entered, Several Thefts, 2 Cars Stolen in Two Weeks, Police Arrest 2 Teens

Former Police Chief Lovello: Unlocked Cars the ‘Bane of Our Existence’ in Darien Police Department

Nine Vehicles Entered, Some Missing Items & One Stolen in Southwestern Corner of Darien

Car Stolen in Noroton Bay Neighborhood, Two Others Entered

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | April 18, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | April 10, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | April 4, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | March 27, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | March 16, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | March 9, 2017

Government & Politics

By David Gurliacci | March 2, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | March 1, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | February 27, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | February 24, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | February 24, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | February 21, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | February 14, 2017

Darien Police report an eye-popping 22 motor vehicles were entered in town in the course of last week — every single one of them unlocked — with items taken from some. Police believe all of the vehicles were entered overnight, either on April 11 to 12, April 13 to 14 or April 14 to 15. Police didn’t provide detailed descriptions of each incident — just released this long list (nothing was taken from the vehicles on the list unless specifically mentioned below):

Overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, April 11 to 12 — total of 14 vehicles

* 1 on McLaren Road

* 2 on Fairview Avenue

* 2 on Midbrook Lane

* 1 on Cherry St. — missing items Magahino brand wallet, valued at $150; three credit cards

* 3 on Robinson Street

* 3 on Hamilton Lane — missing items from one car: $10 worth of coins; $20 in paper currency; a pair of sunglasses, brand unknown, value unknown. * 2 on Charles St.

Police Darien Police Lock Your Car Every Time

Two vehicles were stolen overnight in Darien last week — both unlocked, both with the keys left in them — and one was found in Waterbury with the help of a GPS system, town police said. All of these motor vehicle burglaries and thefts occurred within two miles from each other in the central part of town. All but one (the Oak Crest vehicle theft and the motor vehicle burglary on Roland Drive, a block to the south) occurred overnight last Tuesday to Wednesday. Darien police gave these descriptions of the incidents:
28 Shields Road, Overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, April 4 to 5

A white 2017 BMW X3 had been last seen by its owner at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4. It had been parked in the driveway of 28 Shields Road.

Unlocked vehicles were entered overnight outside these three houses in town, thefts from two of the vehicles include a Jeep key fob, valued at $283, police said:
28 Sunset Road, Overnight Friday to Saturday, March 24 to 25
A 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan was entered sometime between 5:30 p.m., Friday, March 24 and 9 a.m., Saturday, March 25. About $8 in loose change and an iPhone charger were taken. The theft was reported to police on Monday, March 27 after the 53-year-old victim heard of other, similar thefts in the area. 26 Fitch Ave., overnight Sunday to Monday, March 26 to 27
A 2017 Audi Q7 parked outside 26 Fitch Ave. was entered sometime between 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 26 and 8:30 a.m. the following day, when the 36-year-old victim found the glove box and center console riffled through. Nothing appeared to have been taken.

There were two sets of overnight motor vehicle burglaries in Darien last week, one set in Noroton overnight Monday to Tuesday; the other on streets off of Mansfield Avenue overnight Friday to Saturday. Each of the burglaries are thought to be related to others on the same night. Darien police are working with Norwalk police, who also reported vehicles entered in Rowayton, within about 2.5 miles from the ones near Mansfield Avenue. Three vehicles that were unlocked and had keys in them were stolen from Rowayton, and a vehicle stolen from Torrington was found in Norwalk. Update, 6:37 p.m. — Norwalk police released this statement about motor vehicles entered and, in some cases, stolen in Rowayton:

Don’t make it this easy!

When a car (later recovered) was reported stolen from Rocaton Road several weeks ago, a resident of Sedgewick Avenue, not far away, decided to report the theft of an iPhone 6 and a pair of sunglasses from an unlocked car on the same night. The Rocaton Road theft was discovered by the owner of the car on the morning of Feb. 22. The man, 55, told police the iPhone was in his BMW 5 series, parked in his driveway overnight at 71 Sedgewick Ave., when the car had been entered sometime between 9 p.m., and the next morning at 8 a.m.

At first, when he found that the car had been entered and the glove box and center console had been riffled through, he didn’t think anything had been taken. Later, he realized that the iPhone, which he’d kept in the car to listen to music, and the sunglasses were gone.

Reported burglaries of unlocked motor vehicles in Darien went down to only one after Sunday of last week, but the thief or thieves got four bank cards, four store credit cards, a debit card and about $40 in cash. Darien police gave this account of the theft:

Sometime overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Feb. 28 to March 1, a white 2015 BMW parked outside 65 Hoyt St. was entered. The owner, 48, reported the theft to police at 7:46 a.m.

She had last seen the car at 10 p.m. the night before, then got back to the car at 7 a.m. The stolen items had been taken from her purse, although other valuable items in the purse were left behind.

Darien isn’t unusual in getting hit with a recent rash of burglaries into unlocked motor vehicles, and it looks like the two teenagers recently arrested in town could solve a dozen of the recent burglaries, Police Chief Ray Osborne says. Speaking to the Police Commission at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Osborne said the two 17-year-old Stamford boys arrested by police admitted to quite a few burglaries. One of the boys had been found in Stamford inside an SUV stolen from Wilson Ridge Road. “Through some interviews with them, we got admissions of at least 12 other motor vehicle burglaries they had done a couple of nights previous to that [the day of the interviews],” Osborne told the commission. “Stamford ended up charging them, as well, with numerous motor vehicle burglaries,” he said.

Bridgeport police on Monday found the black 2016 Audi Q5 that had been stolen from outside 15 Rocaton Road the week before. The car, valued at $42,000, had been left unlocked overnight outside the house. Someone drove off with it overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, Feb. 21 to 22. The 59-year-old owner told police that the car was unlocked and one of the sets of keys was missing. It was found at about 8 p.m. near an intersection in downtown Bridgeport according to Darien police Lt. Jeremiah Marron.

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.

Two Stamford teenagers, both 17, have been charged in connection with numerous cars being entered, several thefts from them and a stolen SUV after Darien police worked undercover in a surveillance operation, police announced Thursday morning. Here’s the police news release:

During the past two weeks over 20 car burglaries and two stolen vehicles have been reported in Darien. In all of these incidents the vehicles were left unlocked and the ignition keys were in the vehicles that were stolen. On Feb. 22, 2017 the Darien Police Department Selective Enforcement Unit, Detective Division, and Patrol Division conducted a joint surveillance operation targeting the car theft suspects.

Reports of thefts from vehicles parked outside and left unlocked overnight are an ongoing frustration for Darien police, according to former Police Chief Duane Lovello. Police officers get information on each theft, ask neighbors if anything was seen or heard, then file reports on a crime that could be largely prevented if town residents just locked their cars. Before Lovello retired on Feb. 15, he was interviewed by Darien TV 79 Program Director Jim Cameron in an “Inside Town Hall” show that started airing two weeks ago on the town cable television station. Cameron asked Lovello, “What are some of the typical cases Darien Police Department handles?”

Sometime between late afternoon on Monday, Feb. 13 and Tuesday morning, several unlocked vehicles parked near homes in the southwestern part of town were entered, no items were taken from them, residents told police, who soon learned of other cars entered with owners who weren’t so lucky later in the week. Two more cars were entered at 21 Wilson Ridge Road, and one — a white 2011 Land Rover that had keys in it — was stolen. That theft occurred sometime late Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 15.

« August 2022 »

A 2012 Audi Q5 was stolen overnight on Baywater Drive, and two other vehicles in the Noroton Bay neighborhood were also entered on the same night last week, residents told police. The vehicles were parked at homes on Baywater Drive, Shipway Road and Waverly Road near Weed Beach (these links show the streets, the pins on the Google Maps are not meant to indicate exact locations on the streets). Darien police gave these accounts of the three incidents, all of which occurred sometime from the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 7 to Wednesday, Feb. 8:
Stolen Car on Baywater Drive
A 44-year-old resident of the street parked the car in her driveway at about 10:15 p.m. She said she was unsure whether or not she locked the car, and she still had the key with her, although the original key had been lost a year ago.