Car Burglaries Continue To Plague Darien

DARIEN, CT — Two more unlocked vehicles were reportedly broken into in Darien Sunday, according to police.

In the first case, a 35-year-old Chestnut Street resident reported his unlocked 2015 Jeep Cherokee, was entered and "rifled through" between 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, and 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The vehicle was parked on the street, and though nothing was taken, the victim told police of a discovery he made at the time.

"The vehicle owner also reported finding two bicycles left behind on the property, along with a small flashlight," wrote police in a statement. "These bicycles and the flashlight were secured and brought to police headquarters for further investigation. During the neighborhood canvass conducted by the officers, another resident reported seeing the bicycles on the ground at approximately 3:30 AM on 04.30.17 when he returned home. This resident also reported that he saw a 'small light' coming from the side of the road that went out as he drove past. Based on this information, it appears possible that the vehicle was entered in this time frame. Investigation into this incident is continuing."

In the second reported burglary on Sunday night, a backpack containing a $1,300 Apple Macbook was stolen from a 2004 Mercedes-Benz left unlocked in a driveway on Deepwood Road.

The 61-year-old victim reportedly returned home just before 11 p.m. and about 20 minutes later, he heard "his dogs bark and looked out into the driveway to see the interior light of his vehicle was on."

"Upon checking the vehicle, it was found that a backpack, containing a MacBook computer, was missing from the front seat. The area was checked and no suspects were located. The incident remained under active investigation."

Both incidents followed a rash of 22 similarly reported car burglaries the week of April 9, and prompted Darien Police Chief Ray Osborne to issue the below statement urging residents to lock their vehicles and immediately report any suspicious activity:

As many residents are aware, the Town of Darien, as well as almost every other municipality in Fairfield County, has been inundated with thefts from motor vehicles over the last six months or more. In virtually all of the incidents, the vehicles involved have been left unlocked. For quite some time, the Darien Police Department has been diligently asking all residents, through press releases, social media postings and face to face contacts to lock their cars, no matter where or when they are parked. We ask this once again: the protection of personal property has to be a joint effort between the property owner and law enforcement. Your police department has been very proactive in trying to quell these thefts through deterrent patrols and various other detection and enforcement measures.

We also ask residents to make immediate notification to the police department if they see suspicious activity or are the victim of a motor vehicle burglary (or any other crime). In the recent past, we have investigated incidents where residents have seen suspicious individuals in their driveway or their neighborhood or found that their vehicles had been entered in the middle of the night. In these cases, the residents did not contact the police department at the time of their observations. The probability of apprehending a perpetrator increases significantly if the Police Department receives immediate notification of suspicious activity in the area. Please remember that we are a professional 24/7/365 operation and are ready to respond to suspicious or potential criminal activity as it is happening or as close in time to the incident as possible.

Photo credit: Norwell, MA Police Department