Unlocked in Darien 2017

Vehicles Entered Overnight on Three Streets in Darien Over the Weekend

SUV Stolen on Friday Is Now Found, Driver Says She Was Distracted When She Left Keys Inside

Darien Police Have Some Tips on Preventing Motor Vehicle Burglaries and Thefts

Unlocked Cars Stolen in Northern Darien, New Canaan Over Weekend

Lousy Way to Start the Day: Thefts from Two Unlocked Vehicles

Spate of Thefts from Motor Vehicles Continues with Some Windows Smashed

Purses Stolen at Same Time of Day from Two Vehicles Left Unlocked in the Same Area of Downtown

Unlocked Jeep With Keys Inside Stolen Overnight in Darien, Possibly Used in a Stamford Shooting

BMW, Possibly Unlocked, Stolen Overnight from Outside Darien Home, Later Found in Waterbury

Unlocked in Darien: Two Cars Entered, One on Each Side of Town

Two More Unlocked Vehicles Entered Overnight in Darien

Police: On a Dead-End Street in Darien, Driving a Stolen Car from Stamford: Two Teens from Bridgeport

Several Motor Vehicles Entered, Attempt Made to Steal One, All in Noroton

Another Vehicle Stolen from Out-of-the-Way Rocaton Road

Three Vehicles Entered, Two of Them on Rainbow Circle Overnight, Thurs to Fri, Aug 3 to 4

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | December 27, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | December 7, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | November 15, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | November 6, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | November 1, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | October 17, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | October 11, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | October 3, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | September 25, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | August 30, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | August 25, 2017

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By David Gurliacci | August 23, 2017

News

By David Gurliacci | August 23, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | August 22, 2017

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | August 8, 2017

Darienites on three different streets in town reported entered or attempts to enter vehicles overnight from Friday to Saturday or from Saturday to Sunday. Police described what happened with these accounts:
Overnight, Friday to Saturday: Fairview Avenue
At 6:42 a.m., a Fairview Avenue resident told police he saw a man wearing a gray parka trying to open the doors of his car and Jeep. The resident saw the man through his kitchen window. After the man found he couldn’t enter the vehicles, he left the driveway and headed west on the street. Police went to the scene, but found nothing.

Update, 11:02 a.m., Dec. 7:

A Darien woman posted a note on Facebook that she was the victim who mistakenly left her keys in her SUV last Friday before it was stolen. She said she was just distracted at the time and usually locks her vehicle, which has been found. Lucy Oldrin posted this reply just before 11 a.m., Thursday in a Facebook discussion under the Darienite.com post that linked to an article about the theft. In the Facebook discussion, there was quite a bit of harsh criticism of the woman for not locking up.

For the past few months, towns in Fairfield County have experienced a substantial increase in the number of both motor vehicle burglaries and stolen motor vehicles. The Darien Police Department has employed various tactics such as unmarked patrols, “bait” cars, and other investigative methods in an attempt to deter and apprehend the persons responsible. What To Do
While we are doing everything we can to impact the recent increase in incidents, we want to take the opportunity to give the residents of Darien some guidelines on keeping their vehicles and valuables safe. Always Lock Your Vehicle
The vast majority of the motor vehicle burglaries we respond to are of vehicles that were left unlocked. Often the suspects will pass over another vehicle in the same driveway because it was locked.

Police Darien Police Lock Your Car Every Time

Three cars were stolen in New Canaan and another one in Darien this weekend, and two of the New Canaan cars were later found in Waterbury, according to announcements from each town’s police department. Two other cars were entered, one in New Canaan, the other in Darien. In every single case, the vehicle was unlocked. In every case in which the vehicle was stolen, the keys were inside. “These crimes are being committed by suspected gang members from Waterbury,” New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said in a news release.

One resident of Avalon Darien found out her SUV was burglarized, her purse taken and her bank accounts drained of $1,200 on Saturday when she received a 6:30 a.m. email from her bank. Another resident of the same complex at 137 Hollow Tree Ridge Road told police that at about 11 a.m. that same day, Oct. 28, he went to his gray 2010 Ford Fusion and found his center console open and his iPod missing. Both victims had left their vehicles unlocked. Darien police are investigating each of the thefts, believed to have happened overnight from Friday to Saturday, Oct.

Items were taken from an unlocked car at Goodwives Shopping Center last Tuesday, Oct. 10 and at about the same time, the drivers of three other vehicles a half block away were even worse off — windows of their SUVs were smashed. Five days later, on Sunday, Oct. 15, someone visiting a grave at St. John’s Cemetery at 25 Camp Ave.

Purses were stolen from unlocked vehicles downtown, one on Tuesday, Oct. 3, the other on Thursday, Oct. 5 after they were left for just minutes, each of the victims told police. Police gave these accounts of what happened:

Each of the vehicles was parked near 780 Post Road, the building where Houlihan Lawrence (formerly Kelly Associates) real estate offices are located. The thefts took place shortly before 12:58 p.m., when they were reported to police.

An unlocked Jeep Wrangler, parked outside with the keys inside it, was stolen from outside a house at 8 Glenwood Dr. sometime overnight from Friday to Saturday, and later found in Stamford, Darien police said. The vehicle, which had been pursued by Stamford police, was thought to have been used in a shooting in that city, Darien police said they were told. Darien police gave this further account of what happened:

The owner reported the theft to police at 9:19 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 30. Another vehicle left in the driveway wasn’t disturbed.

In an incident that seems to have followed the pattern of recent vehicle thefts in Darien and elsewhere, a BMW parked outside a house on Point O’Woods Road South was stolen, then found days later in Waterbury. Darien police described the incident with this account:

Sometime overnight, between 5:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 17 and 8:42 a.m., the next day, someone entered two cars parked outside the house at 12 Point O’Woods Road. The next morning, the owner found one of the cars — a gray 2011 Lexus RX — had been entered, although there were no signs of forced entry. The contents of the glove box were strewn over the front passenger seat.

This week’s totally preventable theft from a Darien car: items of men’s clothing from a suitcase packed and left overnight in a BMW parked outside a Noroton Avenue home. Another vehicle was also entered on Ridge Acres Road, but nothing was taken from it. Both cars, of course, were unlocked. Two other cars also outside the home at 97 Ridge Acres Road were untouched. They were locked.

Before a slew of unlocked vehicles were entered overnight Saturday to Sunday, items were stolen from two others in Darien, the owners told police. Here are the details of what happened and where, according to police reports:
1 Tulip Tree Lane, Sunday to Monday
Sometime overnight, Sunday to Monday, Aug. 13 to 14, a gray 2015 Ford Escape parked outside the house was entered and a briefcase with a laptop in it was taken. On Monday morning, the owner realized that the SUV had been entered because the glove box had been left open, but didn’t realize anything had been taken. He thought he had probably left the vehicle unlocked.

When a police officer stopped a car on a dead-end street just off the Post Road at 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, the driver and passenger turned out to be two 16-year-olds from Bridgeport, and the car turned out to have been stolen from Stamford, police said. Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court:

While on routine patrol on the Post Road, a Darien police officer noticed three cars going east on the Post Road. The officer was alert to any suspicious behavior at night because of the ongoing wave of car entries and thefts. So the officer followed in his patrol car when all three cars turned onto Salt Box Lane, a dead-end street in the same area where many of the burglaries and thefts have taken place, including several just last week. As the patrol car approached the three vehicles, one of them made a sudden U-turn and went back onto the Post Road.

Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, cars were entered on the lower end of Hollow Tree Ridge Road and nearby Wilson Ridge Road, and in one case an attempt was made to steal an SUV from a driveway, police said. Each of the vehicles was unlocked, despite repeated thefts from vehicles many times before in that same neighborhood. Darien police gave these accounts of what happened, listed in order of the times police found out about the vehicles being entered:
Attempted Theft: 33 Hollow Tree Ridge Road
A resident awoke just before 12:27 a.m. after hearing a loud banging sound. Looking outside, the homeowner discovered that the sound had been made by the homeowner’s white 2016 Honda Pilot being driven into the garage door. The SUV’s door was ajar.

Rocaton Road, not far from Darien Railroad Station, but still an out-of-the-way side street with only one outlet on to Leroy Road, has experienced its second theft of an unlocked vehicle this year, according to a police report. Darien police described the latest incident with this account:

At 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19, a man working as a personal driver left his own SUV, a yellow 2005 Nissan Xterra unlocked in the driveway at 28 Rocaton Road, with the keys in the cup holder of the center console. The man returned at 6:30 a.m. to find his car missing. Overnight from Feb.

« August 2022 »

Three unlocked vehicles were entered overnight in Darien, two of them at 6 Rainbow Cir. from Thursday to Friday, Aug. 3 to 4, when an iPad valued at about $500 was taken. In a third case, an unlocked vehicle was entered on Leroy Ave. at 1:19 a.m. on Friday, July 28.