Rolex Watch Valued at $50,000 Among Items Stolen from Cars in YMCA Parking Lot

There’s a lesson to remember, here, Darien police say: You can lock your vehicle, as three victims did at the Darien YMCA parking lot on the afternoon of Jan. 13, but if you leave your purse or some other valuable item in sight, the only thing separating it from a criminal is a glass window.

And thee of those windows were smashed in sometime before 3:46 p.m. from vehicles parked in various areas of the parking lot, which is under video surveillance.

It appears the three burglaries occurred within a total of about 15 minutes.

Taken:

• From a 2013 Land Rover parked in the eighth row from the west end of the lot: A silver and leather mesh purse valued at $500 and containing a platinum Rolex watch valued at $50,000, a diamond wedding ring, a Louis Vuitton wallet valued at $1,000, various credit and debit cards in the wallet, and $16,000 in cash — the victim said the cash was for a purchase about to be made. (By way of comparison, two new vehicles were stolen from Land Rover of Darien in the past week, and each was valued at $70,000.) The victim had arrived at the Y sometime between 3:15 and 3:30 p.m.

• From a 2014 Lincoln Continental Navigator parked in the third row from the west end of the lot: A Michael Kors purse valued at $200 and containing a Coach brand wallet valued at $200. The wallet, in turn, contained $1,000 in cash and credit cards. The victim had arrived at the Y at 3 p.m.

• From a 2010 LR4 Land Rover parked in the sixth row from the west end of the lot: A Kate Spade handbag valued at $400 and a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses valued at $250. The driver of this car arrived at the Y at 3:30 p.m., then returned to the car at about 3:45 p.m. to find the driver’s side front window smashed. YMCA employees later notified the owners of the other two cars, who were still inside the building.

The matter is under investigation, and police planned to look at video surveillance records.