Police: $30,000 in jewelry, laptop stolen from unlocked Darien car

DARIEN — Police say $30,000 in jewelry, a laptop and wallet were stolen from one of 20 vehicles that were burglarized during a seven-day period.

Police said an unlocked 2020 Lexus containing the jewelry and laptop was burglarized while parked at the Ox Ridge Riding and Racquet Club sometime between 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 19. One of the bank cards from the stolen wallet was later used at Walgreens in Yonkers, N.Y., police said.

On March 22, an unlocked 2014 Lexus was burglarized sometime between 11:10 a.m. and 12:12 p.m. while parked at the Country Club of Darien. Stolen was a wallet containing $70 in cash, bank cards and ID, police said. The bank cards were used at 12:50 p.m. at Best Buy and 1 p.m. at GameStop, both in Norwalk, police said.

Motor vehicle break-ins nearly doubled in Darien from 2019 to 2020, according to statistics from the police department.

Police said all of the incidents last week involved unlocked vehicles.

Vehicles on Wakemore Street, Echo Drive, Echo Drive North, and Lake Drive were targeted during the overnight hours of March 15. Seven cars on Relihan Road, Sherry Lane, Hillside Avenue and Indian Spring were burglarized during the overnight hours of March 18.

Darien Police said they responded to a Hilton Street address at 3 a.m. March 21 after a neighbor reported seeing two people attempt to enter a vehicle. Though police said they could not locate a suspect, a check of other Hilton residences revealed four vehicles were burglarized.

Another vehicle was burglarized on Edgerton Street on March 22.

In addition, other items stolen from burglarized cars included a purse containing bank cards, 20 gift cards with a total value of $2,000, a wallet containing $400 in cash, cards and ID, and sunglasses, police said.

Police have attributed the increase in burglaries to Darien’s reputation for having unlocked cars. Car burglaries nearly doubled in 2020 to 201 from 109 in 2019, the town’s data shows.

In January, Capt. Jeremiah Marron said Darien residents have “unfortunately become well-known for leaving cars unlocked with the keys or key fobs inside.”

There were 48 motor vehicles stolen in 2020 compared with 31 in 2019. Other types of burglaries went down, from 25 in 2019 to 23 in 2020. Darien’s motor vehicle burglaries have often occurred during the overnight hours in one neighborhood.

Numerous car burglaries were reported by police in 2020, including nearly 20 in July alone. Ten break-ins were reported in 24 hours, and an unlocked Mercedes with the keys in was stolen on the same night as several other car burglaries in June.

In December, Darien Police Chief Donald Anderson issued a letter to the community, urging residents to lock their cars before a more violent crime occurs.

Marron said car burglary and auto theft crimes are closely related and are being perpetrated almost predominantly by juveniles.

He said changes in legislation regarding crimes committed by juveniles “in Connecticut have undoubtedly hamstrung policing efforts.”

“These juveniles suspects are very aware that they face little to no consequence for committing these crimes and often are repeat offenders,” he said.

Marron cited this change as “one of the reasons the rate of these crimes has increased over the last year in our area.”

He said suspects rummage through unlocked cars looking for valuables, but ultimately seeking the vehicle keys or key fobs.

“They will go driveway to driveway until almost inevitably they find a vehicle with the keys in it and they’re off,” Marron said. “... As always, we will continue our proactive efforts in approaching this unfortunate but avoidable problem.”