UPDATE: Vehicle Burglary Suspect Charged

New Canaan Police have charged a man suspected of posing as a solicitor in order to commit a rash of vehicle burglaries in neighborhoods near the New Canaan-Darien border in September.

On Sept. 15, Darien Police charged Frank Keller, 37, of Henderson Road with seven counts of burglary in the third degree, two counts of larceny in the fifth, and three counts of larceny in the sixth, when he admitted to seven car burglaries this side of the town-line.

In New Canaan, Keller is accused of stealing $120 from a vehicle parked in a driveway on Smith Ridge Road on Sept. 2, $400 from a vehicle on Conrad Road reported on Sept. 10, and attempting to enter a car on Shagbark Drive on Sept. 9.

A resident at the house on Shagbark had confronted a man she described as a white male in his 30's who walked up her driveway carrying a binder and asking for a "Mrs. Brennan," though there was no one in the area by that name. A neighbor on White Oak Shade reported a similar encounter earlier that day and also provided a partial plate number for the suspect's pick-up truck.

Darien Police used those descriptions to track down the 37-year-old Keller on Lapham Road on Sept. 15. New Canaan police subsequently sought a warrant for Keller's arrest relating to the crimes on the New Canaan side of the border.

On Oct. 19, New Canaan Police charged Keller with three counts of third degree burglary, two counts of sixth degree larceny, and one count of fifth degree larceny. He posted $50,000 bond and is expected in Norwalk Court on those charges Oct. 29. 

Keller is due to file a plea on the Darien charges in Stamford Court Nov. 18.

Darien Police continue to receive reports of car burglaries, and victims have reported a number of missing valuables: GPS systems, EZ Passes, jewelery, Cds, silver platters to name but a few. Police continue to investigate and urge residents to lock their vehicles and park in well-lit areas or closed garages whenever possible.