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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976 06-30 Bike thefts THE REVIEW • Bike thefts 27.... 30, /q7 Would y ou leave $ 150 on the sidewalk? by Kamy Ide recently made stops at North St.Paul and bicycles suddenly disappear, that A bike was ripped apart at Maplewood White Bear Lake and other departments shopping trip could have cost you and Mall this spring. Charles Holeman, who to see if bikes there matched descriptions your buddies $600. works at Farrell's in the Mall, emerged of bikes reported stolen by Maplewood from work one afternoon to find his 10- residents. None matched up. "There's For many riders whose bikes are stolen, speed bicycle had been damaged; the only so much we can do when people don't there comes a rude awakening, both gears had been stripped, the back wheel have those serial numbers," Hagen ex- Hagen and Langeslay point out. bent. For the 16-year-old North high plained. Homeowners insurance policies many school junior, it wasn't a good day. times carry a $100 deductible clause. So Holeman's bike is repairable. But for —OPERATION IDENTIFICATION is you'll only get$50 from insurance to help dozens of other area residents, a bicycle another way to permanently mark your replace your bicycle. And it's generally left unattended for any length of time bicycle to help police identify it in case of accepted that few dealers sell a $150 becomes a bicycle stolen. One the owner theft.An engraver may be borrowed free bicycle for $50. may never see again, and one even the of charge from local departments. The police may not be able to help them owner of the bicycle (and other —EVEN IF you have not recorded the recover. valuables) then engraves his Operation serial number, have failed to label your Maplewood's Assistant Chief of Police ID number in an inconspicuous place on bicycle with Operation Identification Tom Hagen explains bicycle thefts are the bike. The ID number makes the bike numbers and so on, contact police if it is "always a problem.It seems bike owners easily identifiable (and hard to unload) stolen.They may have already recovered have a certain apathy about their stolen property. the bicycle,and often will return it to you property." if you can accurately describe it.Or they He explains many "don't even know —AN INEXPENSIVE lock can be may find it at another local police station. what they own."They know perhaps,that purchased at local hardware stores. The Hagen and Langeslay note they do they had a yellow Schwinn" But they best lock is a case-hardened chain, at what's possible to recover stolen bicycles. never recorded the serial number, which least three-eighths of an inch thick and Sometimes they are found, sometimes hampers police recovery of the bike,they covered with plastic or an inner tube to they are not. It's best if the bicycle is don't know the wheel size and they often prevent scratches to the bicycle. This protected against theft in the first place. know very few specifics about their kind of lock automatically stops the joy property. rider and weary traveler thieves,but may He said bicycles are vulnerable to three not halt the professional, who could use kinds of thieves.There's the joy rider who large cutters to clip right through the hops on a bicycle, rides it for a few chain. blocks and then dumps it. There's the —THE BEST way to stop a professional weary traveler,who needs a faster way to thief is to keep an eye on the bicycle. get where he's going to. He also hops on Always leave the bicycle behind your the bike, riding it to near his destination house or in a shed or garage (a locked and then dumping it. shed or garage). The third and most ominous kind of When at a shopping center with friends, thief is the professional, who scouts it's a good idea to take turns keeping an shopping centers,libraries and the like in eye on the bicycles. If four 10 speed a large truck,van or camper and wants to make off with as many bikes as quickly as — -- possible. is e ha dest to `t tgen said thisyear in Maplewood 57 bikes have been reported stolen and have not been recovered. In North St. Paul, 36 of 39 bikes stolen this year have been returned, which Police Chief Tom Langeslay says is "roughly 90 percent. But I wish people could talk to the 10 f percent whose bikes are gone and have not been recovered.They're the ones hurt the most." 10. The two say bicycle owners do have " ""fit *rs ". some ways to protect their property. The t �; r.; " techniques are easy and inexpensive, but for many bike riders,it just seems like too much work. , SW , i „ ' g, Langeslay asked, "Would you leave ,,,.. $150 on the sidewalk? No, you wouldn't. But people who ride bikes do just that,and "` -- then they wonder why the bike gets ter K stolen." Here are some tips from Hagen, ,,, .,� ."y "� , Langeslay and various pamphlets on � •� protecting your bike from the three types ; of thieves: ! —EVERY BICYCLE has a serial number. Don't count on the business selling you the bike to record the number r ;; and your name. Many don't. Take the - � ° time to find and record the serial number on your bicycle and keep that record in a ,� safe place. That serial number is the police key to ° finding and returning your bike. Police k, t ' use computers to trace and locate stolen ` property, but no bicycle without a serial 1" .r number will be entered in the computer. "The descriptions are just too vague that , t way," Hagen said. Some of the local communities INSPECTING DAMAGE done to his bike while at Maplewood Mall is Charles regularly check with neighboring corn- Holeman,2844 N.McKnight,North St.Paul.Holeman's bike had the gears stripped munities to see if other area police and the back wheel bent the second time his bike has been damaged this spring.For departments have bicycles stolen nearby. others, the loss is even greater.They emerge from shopping centers, libraries and Maplewood's community service officers even their homes to find their bikes have been stolen. Bikes . . . Continued from page 4 county's family court. If the rider receives two or three such tags,he or she is required to attend a Saturday morning bicycle safety session conducted by the county's "family court" judge Howard Albertson. Chief Wagner said warnings have already been issued to some riders in the city.But there is one drawback.Officers are asked to"use discretion"in ticketing youngsters eight or under.And,Wagner said,a majority of the violators fall in that young category. "How can you tag a five year old?"he said."Even if you talk to his parents,the kid doesn't know what you're talking about,what you mean." He says off road paths for bicyclists might be one solution to the problem,or maybe,establishing a minimum age for riders. "The paths off the roadway are best," he said. "We had one case where a bicyclist was on the right side of the road, riding properly.And a woman in a truck with side mirrors came by. She was driving properly.But the mirror hit the guy in the back of the head and it knocked him silly." As for age requirements,Wagner says that an age requirement before allowing a person to drive a bicycle might someday be the solution to the problem. NORTH ST.PAUL Police Chief Tom Langeslay said his department's officers issue tags much like those issued in Oak- dale.Copies of the warnings are sent to parents. If a youngster continues to violate the rules of the road,Langeslay will call the parents and talk with them. He says that's solved the problem every time so far. "We're seeing a much better bicycle- riding public in North St.Paul now.More parents are riding.They know the rules of the road and are instructing their children." Langeslay said the tagging program, now in its second year in the city,"is one of the best programs we have going. Bicycle violations are down to almost nothing now." He said Oakdale and Washington county's program is also excellent. The chief also pointed out that the North St.Paul program gets good acceptance from parents."If a youngster gets two or three notices in the mail and if the parents get a phone call, and the parents did nothing about it,well what happens if that kid gets killed in an accident?T don't think I'd want to be in that parent's shoes. "In about 75 percent of the accidents, the bicyclist is at fault. I think our program alerts parents to the problems. It I were a parent who received these warnings'and did nothing and it was my son of laughter who got killed,I'd hate to be in those shoes."