In the course of one night, police said, three unlocked vehicles, each with keys inside, were stolen from outside Darien homes.
Within minutes or days, each was found: One just down the street on Long Neck Point Road; another in Longmeadow, Massachusetts (93 miles from Darien, along Interstate 95 on the Massachusetts/Connecticut border); and the third in North Haven.
On the same night and the next morning — Monday to Tuesday, June 28 to 29 — owners of two other unlocked vehicles told police that the vehicles had been entered, but nothing was stolen from them.
SEE ALSO: State Lawmakers Explore What Can Be Done About Youths Stealing Cars Across the State (Thursday, July 8)
Darien police gave these accounts of the three vehicle thefts and the two other entries:
Vehicles Entered
At 9:32 a.m., a resident of 23 Dubois St. told police that his or her unlocked 2015 Lexus RX was entered sometime overnight.
At 11:31 a.m., a resident of 35 Pear Tree Point Road reported that an unlocked 2019 Mercedes sedan had been entered and the thief could be seen on a video surveillance recording. The victim’s home security camera showed a male enter the car at 1:56 a.m.
Two Thefts on Long Neck Point Road
At 3:28 a.m., police were told that an unoccupied vehicle was on the roadway near 173 Long Neck Point Road. As police went to the scene, a report came in that a 2014 Range Rover had been stolen from 192 Long Neck Point Road. It transpired that that was the vehicle in the roadway.
Ninety minutes later, at 4:58 a.m., police were called by someone from the North Haven Police Department, who said that a 2017 Mercedes Benz GLC had been found in that town and, according to state records, belonged to someone at 124 Long Neck Point Road. The owners told police the SUV had been parked outside, unlocked and with the keys in it.
Stolen From Plymouth Avenue
At 7:42 a.m., a resident of 29 Plymouth Road told police that his or her 2014 Mercedes M1350, unlocked and with the keys inside, had been stolen from the driveway.
Six days later, on July 5, police received a call from the Longmeadow, Massachusetts police department, which said the SUV was found there.