Thieves Breaking Into Homes For Luxury Car Keys, Larchmont PD Warns

LARCHMONT, NY — The Larchmont Police Department has alerted residents to a rise in larcenies and burglaries in the area.

Police say that affluent communities throughout the region have been targeted by criminals aiming to steal luxury vehicles during the overnight hours. A particularly troubling aspect of the trend is that criminals have forcibly entered homes in search of vehicle fobs/keys for luxury vehicles they see parked in driveways.

This type of crime was attempted in Larchmont last week, according to police. An Oak Ave. resident was awakened by their house alarm around 2:45 a.m. and found their locked ground floor window was partially pried open. The criminals fled when the house alarm was activated, and did not enter the residence.

While Larchmont Police Department officers have increased patrols to combat this crime trend, they ask that residents do the following as well:

• Lock your residence (and car) doors every night.
• If you have a house alarm, it should be armed every night.
• Keep vehicle fobs/keys in your home and out of sight. Criminals look for them, often while outside looking through front doors and windows, in close proximity to entry doors.
• If possible, park luxury vehicle(s) in a garage.
• Install motion lights and surveillance cameras.
• Partner with police — if you see something suspicious, call police via 914-834-1000 or 911 for emergencies. It should be noted that 911 calls from cellular phones are answered by the state police and routed to the appropriate police departments.

As this is a partial list, police ask residents to take all reasonable steps to safeguard against this type of intrusive crime.