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Joel Mackinnon, 48, was charged with first-degree larceny, eight counts of third-degree burglary, three counts of sixth-degree larceny, and two counts of second-degree failure to appear in court. He was held on a $28,500 bond and will appear in court Thursday.
An officer on patrol on Hollow Tree Ridge Road near Patton Drive at 3 a.m. Wednesday spotted a pickup truck blocking the road on Patton Drive, police said. Upon further inspection it was determined that someone was attempting to steal the truck from a nearby driveway. As the officer drove by, the suspect, later identified as Mackinnon, fled the scene and left the truck in the road, according to police.
A search of the area determined that eight unlocked cars had been burglarized on Patton Drive and Charles Street, police said. This is the second time in six days that cars on Patton Drive had been burglarized, police said. During the past two weeks, police have investigated more than 20 burglaries of unlocked cars in Darien, and there have been several cars stolen from the area that were unlocked and had the keys inside, according to police.
As officers continued to search the area, they located Mackinnon on the westbound platform of the Noroton Heights Train Station. Mackinnon told officers that he currently resides at the homeless shelter in Stamford, according to police reports. Police then learned that he had active warrants out of Stamford for failure to appear in court and he was taken into custody.
After placing him under arrest, officers found several items on Mackinnon that were possibly proceeds from the car burglaries that had just taken place, according to police. A short time later it was confirmed that the items did belong to the car burglary victims, police said.
Police said that the investigation remains open, and they are looking into possible connections to past incidents.
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