West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 more bike-theft reports

The latest West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports: 2 more bike thefts. From Eric, who also sent the photo:

Last Thursday my gold Kona Kikapu was stolen out of my garage. I filed a police report and I’m keeping an eye out. The ironic part is my friend’s son had his bike stolen on Thursday, also a few blocks away by the Admiral fire (station) out of his garage, and my neighbor found it in our alley. My bike must have been a little nicer. The bike has small dent in the top frame tube between the seat post and the neck. Any info would be appreciated.

And from Leah:

Hi, just thought I’d let you know that our electric Hebb bike was stolen from the alley near 36th SW and Willow near Myrtle Reservoir park. The bike is silver with Hebb lettering in black on the frame. There is a black Burley bike rack over the back wheel that accommodates a Burley tag along. I can supply the VIN number if it turns up anywhere.

P.S. With a caveat that the city police-report map is not necessarily comprehensive, it still can at least offer a sense of trends – here’s what it shows for bike thefts reported and mapped in the past 3 weeks on the peninsula:

13 Replies to "West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 more bike-theft reports"

  • sc September 7, 2012 (9:38 am)

    Did any of these bikes have locks?

  • Steph September 7, 2012 (10:29 am)

    My son’s bike and scooter were both right next to our house. We bring them in every night but we did not that night and when we woke up both were gone. It is not a super nice bike either but it was his new used bike. It is blue Novera bike with a rusty chain. And his scooter was blue and silver.

  • cjboffoli September 7, 2012 (10:38 am)

    Eric: I’m sorry that your bike was stolen. Please forgive the pedantry of someone with an English degree, but it isn’t exactly irony you’re describing it’s coincidence.
    .
    I wish someone could figure out how to make GPS transmitters work for recovering bikes as well as they seem to work for recovering iPhones.
    .
    You may be heartened to read some of these stories about people who were actually able to recover their bikes by turning the tables on the thieves. Craigslist seems to be the most popular place where bike thieves are fencing their stolen goods these days.

    http://www.dailydot.com/news/bike-thief-gets-owned-video/

    http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2012/08/02/seattle-man-steals-back-stolen-bike/

    http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2003691045_bike03m.html

  • michael September 7, 2012 (11:52 am)

    I saw a bike in the weeds on the north side of Solstice Park above the tennis courts. Sorry don’t recall the exact street.

  • bhance September 7, 2012 (2:29 pm)

    There actually are a couple of GPS tracking products out there, the slickest of the lot is “spybike” (http://www.spybike-gps.com/) but as far as I know the product isn’t sold in the US yet. You stick it in the stem and then ‘arm’ it with a key fob. I think they have to get it cleared with the FCC here first before they can sell it in the US market.

    p.s. pls feel free to register your stolen bikes on stolenbicycleregistry.com (which I run) – it is free, open, and has helped get a lot of bikes back. Even though it’s a long shot, it works …

  • Pam September 7, 2012 (5:50 pm)

    You can actually trag your bike with an RFID tag similar to a dog chip

  • Pam September 7, 2012 (5:52 pm)

    Track, sorry, my iPad does not cooperate. You can also put a sensor on your bike or RFID

  • CEA September 7, 2012 (8:19 pm)

    Wanted to echo the question posed by “sc” – are people locking their bikes up? I chain mine up pretty tight but is it only a matter of time before someone cuts the lock? Just curious as to the level of protection required these days….

  • JN September 8, 2012 (10:32 am)

    @CEA, it really depends on the area. When I lock my bike up downtown at work I always secure both frame and front wheel to the rack with a heavy-duty u-lock. Lower traffic areas or when I’m riding around WS, either a cable lock or nothing if I can maintain visual contact. With the right (cheap!) tools a bike thief can break a cable lock or chain in under ten seconds. High traffic areas provide the most opportunity for thieves as they simply blend into the crowd, + no one cares if they see a bicycle being stolen, sadly.

  • Sabine September 8, 2012 (7:20 pm)

    My bike was stolen August 26th at my apartment building ,I had it locked up with a Kryptonite lock,right outside of my front door. It’s a white Giant mountain bike 26 in tires.If anyone knows anything please contact me.Hey Michael what color??

  • Graeme welsh September 11, 2012 (9:04 am)

    A nice MTN bike was left at my building near the beach at Alki if someone wants to describe and claim.
    I am looking at WSB for possible owner.

  • Kate September 11, 2012 (9:06 am)

    My bike was stolen 9/4-9/5 from my apartment near Luna Park Cafe. It was locked up on our porch with heavy wire and lock. They cut the lock. It’s a blue/red/black Gary Fisher. It has a new seat and handle bars w/a bell on it that says “I heart my bike”. I saw that someone dumped a yellow mountain bike for 24hours nearby, and then that bike was gone only to find a single speed bike in the same place w/an empty back pack near it for another 24 hours. Now all of it is gone.

  • 3dogslater September 15, 2012 (4:05 pm)

    There is a mountain bike just lying on the sidewalk next to the 711 on Harbor Ave silver or white and silver..like it was ditched..

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