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"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," said Chief Ray Osborne.
Burglaries of unlocked cars have been a big problem in recent weeks not only for Darien, but also for New Canaan, Stamford, and Monroe, as well as several other Fairfield County communities.
Police said that in two separate incidents this weekend, residents reported that cars that had been left unlocked were entered. The first took place on Chestnut Street, where a Darien resident reported that he parked his 2015 Jeep Cherokee on the street at around 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 29 and returned around 8 pm. on Sunday, April 30. When he returned he noticed that it had been entered and rifled through, although nothing was taken.
The owner also reported that two bikes and a small flashlight had been left on the property. Another neighbor reported that he noticed the bikes lying there at around 3:30 a.m., and that he saw a small light at around the same time, police said.
The second incident took place on Deepwood Road on Sunday night. The owner of a 2004 Mercedes Benz arrived home around 10:55 p.m. and left his car unlocked in the driveway. About 20 minutes later he heard his dogs barking and looked out to see the interior light of his car was on. When he went out, he found that a backpack containing a $1,300 MacBook was missing from the front seat.
"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," Osborne said. "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."
Osborne also asked residents to immediately notify police if they see suspicious activity or are the victim of a motor vehicle burglary or theft.
"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," Osborne said.
"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."
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