In the wake of two brazen daytime car thefts in downtown New Canaan earlier this month, police have seen three additional stolen vehicles in the past week.
The recent thefts include two more daytime thefts in New Canaan’s business district, according to information obtained by NewCanaanite.com.
In each case, keys had been left inside an unlocked vehicle, in defiance of the New Canaan Police Department’s repeated urging for motorists to lock up and take keys with them:
- 2:34 p.m. on Jan. 8 at 94 Park St., the address of CVS (ongoing investigation);
- 6:25 p.m. on Jan. 9 at a Canoe Hill Road home (vehicle recovered in Waterbury);
- 12:02 p.m. on Jan. 11 at 229 Elm St., the address of Walter Stewart’s (ongoing investigation).
Not yet halfway through January, the five stolen vehicles already mark a significant year-over-year rise (up from one in January 2025). Overall, stolen vehicles declined in 2025, down to 18 from 38 the prior year. Police have detailed the department’s efforts and challenges in apprehending car thieves. Last month, NCPD arrested a teen by warrant in connection with a stolen vehicle from June 2025.
NCPD has urged residents to take these precautions to cut down on the thefts:
- Always lock your car doors and windows, even for short periods.
- Never leave your car running.
- Take all keys, spare keys and key fobs with you and when home secure these inside your house.
- Remove or conceal all valuables out of sight (purses, handbags, electronics, cash) from plain sight.
- Park smart and be aware of your surroundings, especially in public parking lots.
Why can’t NCPD set up a plan to stop the trend? Seems like Waterbury has a dedicated tack force – why not NCPD? Do we not pay enough money to the PD to get protection from our vehicle’s being stolen? Per ChatGPT – New Canaan Police are paid more than any other town in CT! Why can’t they stop grand larceny? Seems like 101 police work.
Start pulling over people that look out of place immediately. Don’t let the crooks drive around town looking for victims. I know I am going to start my own policing in town. I think everyone of us should do the same thing. Start calling out things that don’t seem right as it pertains to people in our town looking for trouble.
“Start pulling over people that look out of place immediately”.
Not sure what this means. Can you clarify?
That would be nice if police could do it, but unfortunately, the police can’t pull somebody over without a good reason. Just pulling people over who look like they don’t belong opens them up to charges of bigotry, racial, profiling, intimidation, etc. You can blame social media for that if you’re really looking for someone to blame… The police are having a tough enough time now with public relations and the media without adding this to the mix. WE have to decide asa society if we want to give the police greater discretion in handling potential criminal activity without second guessing them with every decision they make, or if we want to liimit thier power so that they cannot act pre-emptively.
It WOULD be nice if they could set up a decoy operation that would lure these criminals out, but that may well be a very difficult and expensive proposition to fulfill. Rather than going on about the Police Dept not being able to stop this, why can’t people accept responsibility for their own actions, and lock their cars and take their keys?
I don’t think that’s too much to ask of people to protect the significant investment that they have in a car. Do you?
It’s not a law to lock your car. It is a law to not steal a car.
Blaming a stolen car on the owner who left a key inside is like blaming someone who was pickpocketed for not have a zipped up pocket, blaming a person who was mugged because they walked down a dark street, or a homeowner for getting burglarized for leaving a window unlocked, or a homeowner for having a package stolen for having it left on the porch.
I do appreciate the police in our town but this car theft thing has gone too far IMO and something needs to be done. This town feels different because of it.
New Canaan is not Utopia. Crime exists everywhere and almost all the stolen vehicles in New Canaan are because of keys left in unlocked cars. That puts the blame squarely on the owners. Keep in mind that this increases the insurance rates for our vehicles too. Locks and keys are made for a reason. Use them. The police cannot protect every owner who feels they live in Utopia.
i think Jason has a good point. He’s not blaming our police dept. It would be helpful to hear more communication from them detailing what steps they are taking to combat this issue. To simply reiterate that residents should not leave their keys in their cars is not a plan. A neighbor had their car stolen from their driveway as they were unloading groceries into their house. Another neighbor had their car stolen from the gas pump.
Doug,
I appreciate your comments and I agree that we need to hear more about what they are doing to prevent more vehicle thefts.
However, according to New Canaan Police Department Facebook Page the vehicle stolen from the Mobil Station took place while the resident was pumping gas occurred when the resident left the key inside and the car running:
“There have been 2 vehicles stolen in the past two days from Mobil and Acme. Both vehicles were left unlocked and running. NCPD wants to remind everyone to ALWAYS turn off your car, lock it and bring your keys with you even if you’re making a quick stop.”
__________________
Likewise, the theft of the car while the resident was unloading groceries occurred when the driver’s door was wide open and keys left inside the car. A video of the theft is embedded in the article below:
https://dailyvoice.com/connecticut/newcanaan/police-issue-warning-following-string-of-car-thefts-in-new-canaan/
Gone are the days when people could leave their house doors, vehicles, and even second floor bedroom windows unlocked.
Both the examples (unloading groceries and filling gas) involve leaving the keys in the car. So YES, plan on NOT leaving the keys in the car. If you make an easy target, sooner or later you will be targeted by opportunistic thieves.
The purpose of these articles is to inform and raise awareness of the crimes. We can use that information to protect ourselves or we can punt it to the police.
P.S. After reading these articles last year, I always keep my RFID keys in my pocket and take my phone with me when I fill gas. Now that I have an EV, I don’t worry about the gas part.
Life hack: don’t leave your keys in the car. Not at the gas pump, not in your own driveway, not at the store. How many cars have I had stolen using this one simple trick? Zero. The answer is zero.
Additional life hack because I’m feeling generous: asking the cops to profile and pull over people who don’t “look like they belong here” is culturally backsliding, bigoted, and a waste of taxpayer money. Additionally, the entitlement and laziness of expecting our police force to risk their own safety to fix a problem that we’re too lazy to address at the most logical source makes me want to put my house on the market tomorrow.
Buy some pants with pockets.
Plain and simple. Don’t leave your keys in your car and don’t leave your engine running. Dah!
Those leaving the keys in their vehicles and/or engines on are the ones extenuating the problem. They are attracting the thyroid our town.
Also if your car is stolen with keys in the car most insurance policies have a exception and will not cover you.
Our police have enough work without chasing gang member initiation ritual of stealing some high end self absorbed, self entitled, ego maniacs trophy car, and dumping them in the hood , If these same self absorbed idioto’s are found to have left keys in their ego machine, they should be ticketed and fined for wasting taxpayers monies.
I agree with Doug Stewart. We need more data points. What I find particularly concerning is that thieves are actively surveilling residents to target their vehicles. It would be helpful to understand whether these thefts follow patterns—are the majority occurring in the commercial district, or are they concentrated near the Merritt Parkway? The idea that criminals may be watching and waiting, following residents home, or driving around with ladders to facilitate break-ins is deeply troubling. More detailed information about these incidents would help the community better understand and address this threat
This article is about stealing vehicles. Driving with ladders does not seem to help steal a vehicle, unless it is on a car carrier.
Logic would also suggest that due to the crackdown on illegal and asylum immigrants, some might resort to crime to put food on their table. We should take precautions, lock our cars and our homes as well, especially those patio doors. And the police do have a service where they will check your home while you are on vacation. Use it.
Only problem with your theory is that unless the recent immigration crackdown suddenly boosted crime rates among immigrants, the perpetrators are statistically much more likely to be US citizens.
https://www.cato.org/commentary/trump-bashed-other-countries-their-immigrant-crime-rates-heres-why-he-didnt-mention-us#
Thank you, everyone. This thread is closed.
So people steal to put food on the table — so organized crime does it for food and not the money who knew.
This is very simple if you look at the facts:
Take your keys and lock your car- no car theft.
Leave keys, phones, bags etc in your unlocked, running vehicle = car stolen.
NCPD is not responsible for our cars- we are.