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Heavey sent out a message to residents earlier this week, advising them that there has been a "dramatic increase" in vehicle thefts in recent months. At the time of that message, eight cars had been stolen in the past two weeks.
"Since my last message, we had three more cars stolen, all with the doors unlocked and the keys within," Heavey said in a message posted Thursday. He said that just the previous night, officers had given chase to a stolen car from Waterbury. "The reckless youths bailed out of the moving car and fled into the night on foot, leaving the car still running and rolling off the road."
Heavey said that residents should always lock and alarm their vehicles, do not leave keys, key fobs or valet keys in unattended cars, and report all suspicious persons or vehicles to police.
He said that youths are operating as a vehicle theft gang, and are committing crimes throughout Fairfield County, as well as Westchester and Duchess Counties in New York.
"While we have arrested some of these gang members, we need our residents to be diligent, and not make it easy for these criminals. It appears that their primary motive is the cash and goods being left unsecured in our cars," he said. "Greenwich has become an easy and profitability target for these thieves."
"They close out their night by stealing the cars before heading home. They have become very discerning with which cars they will steal, taking only the finest and fastest. Often, these criminals use stolen vehicles to commit more crimes, which endanger the public and law enforcement."
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