There have been 12 cars stolen in West Hartford since the beginning of 2016.

Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford Police are reminding residents to be alert and to refrain from leaving an unlocked and unattended car warming up in the driveway after recent rash of stolen vehicles in town.

There have been five cars – all being warmed up – stolen from driveways in the past two weeks, Capt. Jeff Rose said. All of the incidents have taken place in the morning, between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.

The most recent incident occurred at 7:42 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2. According to police, a silver Nissan Altima was stolen while it was warming up in the driveway of a home on Overbrook Road.

Police responded immediately and said they initially located the vehicle at the intersection of Park Road and Overbrook Road. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle on Park Road, just past Trout Brook Drive, it fled and turned down South Quaker Lane and onto Flatbush Avenue.

Hartford Police later located the vehicle, undamaged and unoccupied, in front of 617 Brookfield St. in Hartford.

Rose said that while stolen cars are not unusual in town, the volume of vehicles stolen recently – 12 since Jan. 1 and five stolen while warming up in just the last two weeks – is out of the ordinary.

The most recent thefts have all occurred in the southern part of town, and in addition to Overbrook cars were taken from driveways on Colonial Street (Jan. 27) and Dwight Road (Jan. 19). Two vehicles that were warming up were stolen from Kingsley Court on Jan. 22, Rose said. The vehicles were a mix of makes and models, and included a Toyota Camry, Honda Pilot, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

Residents are asked to remain alert and contact police if they see any suspicious activity.

“We are also recommending that people do not warm up their cars and leave them unattended,” Rose said.

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