I wish I have as many videos to post, but catching someone stealing a bike in broad daylight is something I didn’t expect.
Riding into work on Tuesday morning on my usual route up Sunset, I was caught a bit off guard at first seeing someone with a large pole prying away at a bike.
At first, this was so brazen that I didn’t think someone would be that bold, but as I rode away I thought about the high number of bike thefts and concluded the odds were probably better than I thought that something was amiss.
There was only so much of a hero factor I was going to play considering I ride this route almost daily and having a memorable send off earlier in the morning from my daughter meant I was focused on coming home whole that evening.
The video may not show this as well, but I got the sense that these two knew some of the other people that were lingering around the street, so I wanted to keep my distance even as I called 911.
I gave the police what I thought was good enough descriptions of the pair as well as the location, so I got off the phone as I waited for police to arrive.
It took a couple of minutes, but guy pried the lock and he was off to the races warranting a second call from me.
I did my best to follow and keep my distance thinking enough time had passed that a unit would have arrived.
Heck, the guy wasn’t able to bike up hills after a certain point.
Once he made the turn up Scott, that was pretty much the end of any hope of finding him.
There was no chance I was going to chase someone into areas where I could be isolated.
Around then, a chopper showed up, but I was pretty sure it was too late.
My guess is that the guy found his way into Elysian Park and this wasn’t his first rodeo before.
If this was your bike, reach out to me at CiclaValley@gmail.com for more details.