How a Portland man helped police catch ‘Santa Claus’ bike thief

Still from Kevin Collier’s video.
-Watch it below-

Last week the Portland police arrested Robert Charles Dady, who they referred to as a “prolific bicycle thief.” We now know more details about one piece of the case that helped make that arrest possible.

Kevin Collier was one of Dady’s victims. His bike was stolen on the night of July 25th from right out in front of 24HR Fitness in the Pearl District. Collier did not take the theft lying down. He committed himself to catching the person responsible. And one week later, he did. As it turned out, his bike was stolen by a team that included Dady (who Collier refers to as “Santa Claus”) and another man.

Here’s Collier’s story of how he helped lead the Portland police to this notorious bike thief.

“I had my bike stolen from the Pearl 24 HR Fitness on July 25th where it was locked up in the bike parking area close to the front door. I filed an online Portland Police Bureau report, a 24 Hour Fitness incident report, and I started checking Craig’s List the next day. I also began analyzing biking patterns of every rider that I saw, taking in information, and eye-balling if my bike was on the streets.

The night I caught the thieves I was riding in the neighborhood after getting some pizza for my girlfriend and saw a suspicious looking rider. He was traveling the wrong direction on a one way street pedaling against traffic. He was hiding from streetlights by riding on the sidewalk underneath the canopy of trees blocked out the light. He purposely put himself in the dead of night. While he was riding underneath a blanket of darkness while going the wrong way, and on the sidewalk, he was also going uphill with no lights on the bike. He looked like he was riding the hard way in order to avoid anyone being able to follow him in a car. Since he was less than 10 blocks from where mine was stolen I simply had to track him.

I didn’t want to spook the rider or drive the wrong way on one way street. So I had to start off heading the wrong direction to turn around and track him from the next block over headed his direction. I accelerated quickly one parallel block over to catch him. I finally caught up and saw him in an intersection after five blocks and then I lost him. The next street was Burnside so I decided to take a left and headed his direction where I though he might be. I decided to circle the block behind Burnside and didn’t see anything. That is until I took a right back onto Burnside and saw my bike looking awesome like when it was stolen.

I walked right up to him and snatched my bike out of his hands and told him “give me my bike back thief!” He was startled from the confrontation and immediately stepped back. He saw there was not going to be a discussion and that I was intent on immediately taking the bike. He said he bought it off Craig’s List and he believed that it was my bike. I didn’t say anything but I couldn’t believe him because I’ve been checking Craig’s List everyday and it was not on there. I told him I’m calling the cops as I was putting it into my car trunk and he said he would stick around to talk.

Now as I’m on Burnside in the street with my car running, bike in hand, grabbing for bungee cords, keeping the man from walking off, and calling the cops, I asked him when he bought it and he said a week ago. My bike was stolen on Sunday. I asked again what day and he said he wasn’t sure. Red flag! I then noticed he was sweating really hard and asked him “if you didn’t steal my bike why are you sweating so damn hard!” He responded and said he just came back from the gym and pointed to his back pack. No he didn’t! I laughed inside because that was where my bike was stolen from. Simultaneously, I was talking over the phone to the Portland Police Bureau and they inferred that they were not coming anytime soon so I pulled out my phone to shoot video.

What you see in the video is him saying this is getting weird and walking off. He never came back and I couldn’t follow him because it took too long to put my bike in my trunk to follow him and I was still in the middle of Burnside so I didn’t want to leave my car. The cops called me back 25 minutes later and came to talk. I told him the story and emailed him the video which clearly shows his face. Later that night I was riding my bike because I was happy to have it back and relaxing myself before I went to bed. I was riding on 19th and Johnson and saw an old man in a blue shirt who had a big white beard hold a really nice bike while he was walking it down the street. He definitely looked suspicious so I took photos of him him.

I called 24 hour fitness the next day and they said a guy in a striped shirt and a old guy who looked like Santa Claus both stole my bike working as a team. I’ve since found Santa Claus is notorious for stealing bikes. I snapped pictures of him the same night I got my bike back but I didn’t know that Santa and the guy in the striped shirt were partners until I called 24 hour fitness the next morning. They said a guy in a striped shirt and a old guy who looked like Santa Claus stole my bike together.”

And here’s the video Collier shot of that confrontation on Burnside:

Nice work Kevin! It’s people like you that are spreading the idea among local bike thieves that we are onto them and they would be better off working in a different city.

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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BellaBici
10 years ago

This is sooooo goood!!! Thank you, Kevin, for having the gumption and taking the initiative!!!!

Barney
Barney
10 years ago

A win for the good guys! Way to go Kevin.

John Lascurettes
10 years ago

They said a guy in a striped shirt and a old guy who looked like Santa Claus stole my bike together.

Wait, what? 24h Fitness knew about it? Did they provide any security footage or statements to the cops?

Kevin
Kevin
10 years ago

Yes they did.

CIRCA Cycles
10 years ago

That’s beautiful. Nice work.

Capt Karma
Capt Karma
10 years ago

Did I miss it, was there an arrest? Gotta discourage these cretins, or they’ll be right back at it tomorrow.

Todd Hudson
Todd Hudson
10 years ago

We should keep an eye out if Multnomah County decides to release Dady before his trial (he’s still being held in custody). I’m guessing that if he’s released, he’ll go straight back to stealing bikes.

lyle w.
lyle w.
10 years ago
Reply to  Todd Hudson

Yeah, if you look at pdxmugshots.com he’s been arrested for theft (which I’m guessing wildly was bike theft) and then kicked a bunch of times in the last six months. He’ll get out of jail, get some lunch, and I’m sure will have a pair of bolt cutters in his possession before the day is out.

pixelgate
pixelgate
10 years ago

lol awesome video! Sweet recovery!

Adam
Adam
10 years ago

If 24 Hour Fitness saw the theft enough to remember the two culprits from feet away, why did they not call the police? Also, do they not have security cameras monitoring the doors of their premises?

Not being picky – just very curious.

spencer
spencer
10 years ago

Nice work, i grabbed a bike from a man pushing two high end bikes up my street this summer, and subsequently posted CL ads and then returned the bike to PPD. That said, know your serial numbers people if you want any chance of getting it back.

johnny
johnny
10 years ago

Kevin, you are a hero! So glad you got your bicycle back.

esther c
esther c
10 years ago

I’m confused too. Did this guy get arrested or just Dady? Did 24 hour fitness see the theft in progress or go back and review video?

Kevin
Kevin
10 years ago
Reply to  esther c

I believe just Dady was arrested.

lyle w.
lyle w.
10 years ago

God these guys are such pathetic lowlifes, every single time they get caught. It’s kinda like being a landlord in a lot of situations (no offense to decent landlords)– you’re just kinda putting the net out for a particularly weasely personality, and it’s gonna catch the pathetic chaff much more frequently than other things and that’s who you’re gonna end up dealing with if you’re dealing with that population. I mean, obviously.
You can’t just be a man and admit it and ask for forgiveness, can you? The look of abject failure on their faces is just so obviously a confirmation of everything being a bike thief is. From this guy to the guy who tried to drive up to seattle and sell the bike he stole on Hawthorne, it’s just a non stop ride on the Fail Train.

I’d almost feel sorry for these guys and try to say or do something to help them get their lives together… if they weren’t f-ing bike thieves.

TonyT
tony tapay
10 years ago

Woohoooo! Yea, Kevin!

Bryan Hance
10 years ago

Wow. Kevin please email me and let me send you some free “DEATH TO BIKE THIEVES” stickers to stick on your ride, now that it is back 🙂

maxadders
maxadders
10 years ago
Reply to  Bryan Hance

So it’s okay to take a human life– over something as inconsequential and replaceable as a bicycle?

Justin Acciavatti
Justin Acciavatti
10 years ago
Reply to  maxadders

Yep.

Kevin
Kevin
10 years ago
Reply to  Bryan Hance

503-960-6769 call or text me.

Kevin.

Dmitriy Zasyatkin
10 years ago

This would have been a great citizen’s arrest. I recommend everyone take Aikido, the non-violent martial arts, so that when you see a bike theft, you can easily subdue the thief until the police can arrive, because if you call 911 they will most likely ask you 40 questions before dispatching an officer, and at that point, your bike will definitely be gone.

If you can’t apprehend the thief yourself, shout for help as loud as you can.

Oregon Citizen’s Arrest Laws: http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/133.225

Jessie
Jessie
10 years ago

I just want to put out there though, that doing a citizen’s arrest (I have performed a couple) can be very dangerous to you in the bigger picture. You do not have the legal protections of a Police Agency. If you detain someone and it is determined you didn’t have just cause, you could be charged with kidnapping. If they are injured while detained you could become civilly liable.

If one does decide to perform a citizen’s arrest, make sure you know what it is you are doing, and have witnesses present. You will most likely need them.

Side note, if you want to get a Police response a little sooner (especially in Portland) it helps if you express that you feel “threatened” or in some sort of danger when you call.

Cry
Cry
10 years ago

I am curious as to the guy saying he saw a guy pushing two nice bikes & grabbed them from him… As a person who has had her bike stolen, I’ve of course dreamed of this but doesn’t this seem really risky?? You just can’t go snatching things out of people’s hands whether you think they are stolen or not..