Top Stories of the Week in Darien: April 8 to 14

These are the most important, most talked about or most read stories in Darien this past week:

Reported first on Monday:

Copper downspouts were stolen from two homes on Tokeneke Trail, Darien police said. Later in the week, Darien Patch reported that copper downspouts were also reported missing from Stephen Mather Road; they also reported stolen recently in New Canaan. On Friday, police announced the arrest of a Norwalk man, who is accused of stealing copper downspouts earlier this year.

Also reported Monday:

cashier at Stop & Shop in Goodwives Shopping Center bolted after he was accused of pilfering, and he ran underneath a platform at the Darien Metro-North station, where he was arrested, police said.

Reported Tuesday:

The state medical examiner's office said Tuesday that the demise of Russell J. Pinto, 45, who grew up in Darien, was an accident due to heart problems. Pinto's funeral was held Saturday.

Dump fees, a new rail for a bridge on Old King's Highway South and the acceptance of gifts for the Darien Fire Marshal's Office were all approved by the Darien Board of Selectmen on Monday night.

Early one afternoon last week, a 31-year-old woman asleep in her parked—but still running—car, was charged with driving while under the influence.

Darien resident Walter Casey criticized the Darien Emergency Medical Services Review Committee during the public comment period at Monday's Board of Selectmen meeting.

Reported Wednesday

The $125.7 million budget passed by the Darien Board of Finance would raise property taxes 3.87 percent, to 13.17 mills (or $13.17 of property taxes per $1,000 of assessed value). The increase would only take effect if the Representative Town Meeting approves the Board of Finance's suggested budget.

Reported Thursday

The Darien Board of Education on Wednesday named Assistant Principal Ellen Dunn, formerly a science teacher, as principal of Darien High School; she's been at the school for 25 years.

Reported Friday

Darien Patch published the first in a series of weekly looks at Darien Health Department inspection reports of restaurants and other food-serving establishments in town.

A look at a surveillance video recording solved the case of a cell phone stolen from a customer at a local automobile dealership, Darien police said.

Police, responding to two reports of a man running through the neighborhood of Leroy Avenue, Rocaton Road and Mystic Lane on Friday, found the man and charged him with burglary.

A power outage early Thursday evening knocked out power to parts of Darien and New Canaan, as well as a large part of Stamford.

A state official says an investigation into Darien Public Schools' special education practices will be conducted, but not a hearing.

Reported Saturday:

Darien Social just received a "Good" rating from New York Times' Connecticut restaurant reviewer Patricia Brooks, but that comes in the wake of some critical health-code reviews from the Darien Health Department, which rates it "Fair".