Bikes recovered, meth addict suspected in St. Johns shop burglary

Here’s an update to the story about a burglary at Weir’s Cyclery in St. Johns courtesy of Ira Ryan (who works in the basement of the shop),

“The cops recovered 10 bikes and most of the other stuff last night. The thief was a resident tweaker in St. Johns who the cops are on a first-name basis with.

He was trying to sell them in the plaza in downtown St. Johns and the cops followed him to his house (just 4-5 blocks from the precinct) where they found nearly everything that was stolen.”

Ryan says the bikes are a bit mangled and that the cops suspect that the remaining bikes were immediately parted out and sold.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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rixtir
rixtir
16 years ago

He was trying to sell them in the plaza in downtown St. Johns

Criminals sometimes really are stupider than you and I, aren\’t they? Unbelieveable.

Glad to hear most of the bikes are back, too bad about the parted and damaged ones.

I hope the thief gets the book thrown at him. A nice long stay in prison, hopefully. Can you stay on this story, Jonathan?

SKiDmark
SKiDmark
16 years ago

What did I say about meth?

gabrielamadeus
gabrielamadeus
16 years ago

hahahaha! What an idiot! Glad to hear the news.

Todd
Todd
16 years ago

the thief\’s METHod to sell the bikes was flawed.

(sorry i couldnt resist)

Dave
Dave
16 years ago

What? A tweaker? Say it isn\’t so…

tonyt
tonyt
16 years ago

meth and stolen bikes?

like chocolate and peanut butter.

max adders
max adders
16 years ago

speaking of meth: I saw a Wal-Mart quality Mongoose MTB with a rather too-nice carbon aerospoke front wheel today.

Locked up at 11th & Morrison, but gone a few minutes later when I passed by again. I intended to take a pic to see if anyone had lost a wheel recently…

Adam
Adam
16 years ago

Go figure it was a tweaker. I\’m just glad to hear that they found who did it.

Anonymous
Anonymous
16 years ago

Glad to hear that my initial feeling was correct (#39 in the other post).
When I saw the smile on the guy in the yellow cap, riding 2 new bikes at Ivanho and Charleston, I figured it had to be good news. I have a friend who has a store in the area and he has had burgulars actually cut a hole in the roof to get into his place.

Makes a guy want to keep a few crocodiles in the place overnight.

BillD
BillD
16 years ago

Glad to hear that my initial feeling was correct (#39 in the other post).
When I saw the smile on the guy in the yellow cap, riding 2 new bikes at Ivanho and Charleston, I figured it had to be good news. I have a friend who has a store in the area and he has had burgulars actually cut a hole in the roof to get into his place.

Makes a guy want to keep a few crocodiles in the place overnight.

Jonathon S
Jonathon S
16 years ago

Damn, I\’ve seen that Mongoose too! This is a really small town when it wants to be.

Martha S.
Martha S.
16 years ago

Maybe that mongoose just belongs to someone crazy enough to have a wheel worth more than the rest of the bike… 😛

It\’s great to hear that this stuff was recovered. ^_^

bhance
bhance
16 years ago

and the cops followed him to his house … where they found nearly everything that was stolen

You know, I hardly ever say this, but it seems pretty appropriate here: p0wned!

Very glad to hear this guy got nailed. Hopefully the losses aren\’t too bad when it\’s all tallied up.

wsbob
wsbob
16 years ago

It\’s amazing, if true, that one stupid tweaker can bust into a shop all by himself and walk off with that much merchandise. I wonder if, after all of this, Weir\’s will be taking steps to make their shop a little more secure? I\’m sure it\’s expensive to do this, but they\’ve go to. They really lucked out this time.

Adam8
Adam8
16 years ago

Can we start summarily executing meth-addict bike thieves yet?

rixtir
rixtir
16 years ago

Quoting myself:

I hope the thief gets the book thrown at him. A nice long stay in prison, hopefully.

My kneejerk sentiment when one of these bike thieves is finally caught. But after thinking it over, I really don\’t believe that a stay in prison is the appropriate response to the problem. Too many drug addicts, alcoholics, and otherwise mentally ill people end up in the penal system because they don\’t want or can\’t get the help they need.

Yes, this guy is a bike thief, and not just a meth addict, but he\’s a bike thief because he\’s got a habit to feed. For me, it would be far more preferable to convict the guy, give him a suspended sentence, contingent upon him getting drug free and staying drug free for a very long time– say ten years or more drug free, before probation ends. Put him in a program, get him off drugs, and keep him off drugs. I think that\’s a better approach than throwing him in prison and thinking the problem is solved.

But what about punishment? I\’d rather see some sort of restorative justice here as part of his sentence: Restitution to Weir\’s, and community service related to bike theft and/or meth addiction.

And if he doesn\’t meet the terms of his sentence or probation, there\’s always that suspended sentence dangling over his head…

tonyt
tonyt
16 years ago

You know rixtir, if his crime was possessing the drugs, I\’d agree. Treatment, treatment, treatment.

But he broke into a place of business, damaged stuff, stole A LOT of stuff and sold some of it too.

Yes, treatment is appropriate. While he sits in prison for a long time.

If someone did this crime w/o the drugs, he/she would be due a good time behind bars.

Do we want to punish people more if they DON\’T do drugs?

Again, I am all for treatment, but the involvement of drugs does not reduce culpability or the appropriateness of time behind bars.

rixtir
rixtir
16 years ago

Do we want to punish people more if they DON\’T do drugs?

I think the answer would have to be yes, because their criminal behavior isn\’t fueled by the need to feed a habit.

I\’m not saying that there should be no sentence. I\’m just saying that it makes more sense to make him atone for his crime through restitution to Weir\’s– i.e., paying Weir\’s for the loss he caused– and through restorative justice to the community, after he\’s drug free. Real restorative justice– not picking up cigarette butts on the street, not a once a month talk to kids about drugs, but a real, substantive contribution to helping end the meth addiction and/or the bike theft epidemic. And if he doesn\’t follow through, then punish him with incarceration.

I think that in the end, that result, multiplied by the number of addicts we could set on the road to recovery if we tried, is healthier for the community than sending him to prison and thinking that the addiction & theft problem has been addressed.

Anyway, I was just disagreeing with my earlier post.

bhance
bhance
16 years ago

If it\’s a nonviolent crime he\’ll probably do zero time, just get more probation, etc.

zilfondel
zilfondel
16 years ago

Gotta love tweakers…

Cicero
Cicero
16 years ago

Meth permanently alters brain chemistry. I\’ve had to study it quite a bit in pharmacy school. Serious tweakers can only be cured with permanent incarceration or death. This thief will be stealing again within 6 months. Sad but true.