Darien BMW theft count goes up to 8

DARIEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- A car heist is even worse than originally thought: more high priced BMW's were swiped off a dealer lot in Darien.

At first count, six BMW's were boosted from the dealership in Darien last month. Five were customers' cars in for service, while the other was a brand new one on the lot.

Police say they went back through the surveillance video and found that the thieves had taken two more, bringing the total to eight cars worth a half million dollars.

"The only reason I thought it was frightening is they have that gate back there and we come here to get our car serviced, and we purchased them here and it always seems very secure," said Doris Ghitelman. "And it was always locked."

Police say thieves were able to cut through the gate and gain access to the keys, and they knew how to bypass some of the security measures in place.

They called it a sophisticated operation, and the reason they use the term "operation" is because they believe those thieves are also operating in New York; five or six towns in that area have also been hit, so police are working with those towns to see if they can figure out who is behind all of the BMW thefts.

Detectives are following up on several leads in the case, and believe the thieves have intricate knowledge of the BMW cars.

Ghitelman bought her car from BMW of Darien and she says the cars are hard to steal because they have so many security features built right into the car, including mini computer chips that attach to the key.

"And that is what they take when you bring your car in to be repaired," she said. "And this little fob has all of the information on the car, and that fob can turn the car on and I would keep this key and I can also open it."