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.
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Bike thieves are a clever bunch.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The world of bike theft continues to both fascinate and deplore us. It seems like just as innovation and technology promises better bike theft prevention and recovery tools, thieves are becoming more brazen, devious, and numerous.

In our ongoing quest to arm you with as much knowledge about bike theft as possible, we wanted to share the experiences of two readers. Both of these bike theft tactics where new to me, so I figured they were worth passing along.

The first is from a reader named Chris:

I used to have a roommate that was a complete moron and "accidentally" stole a bike:

He was in Eugene, OR and some guy on the sidewalk asked, as he was walking by, if he wanted to buy this Gary Fisher MTB for $40. He gave the guy $40, and the guy was gone before he realized that the bike was still locked to a bike rack. So, he went home to get some bolt cutters and returned to remove the lock and take his new bike home. It wasn't until he got home that he had to be told by friends and family that he was swindled and just stole someones bike... I didn't know him when he did this, but he still held onto a lot of guilt from this experience... doesn't make him any less of an idiot, though.

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Robert Charles Dady.

Portland Police have arrested a man they've connected to several bicycle thefts in downtown Portland. 56-year-old Robert Charles Dady was booked into jail by Central Precinct on Tuesday after an extensive investigation by officers with the PPB's Neighborhood Response Team.

Here's more from the police statement:

This investigation began on September 4, 2013, when a victim of a bike theft called the Portland Police after having seen a suspect riding his stolen bicycle, which had been taken from the 24 Hour Fitness located in the Pearl District.

Over the past few weeks, NRT officers worked with employees at the 24 Hour Fitness Pearl District location, Powell's Books on West Burnside Street, and the World Trade Center in Downtown Portland. Each location had seen an unusual rise in bike thefts.
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Beatrice, the battered blue bike stolen from outside the Portland Building last week, is back in the hands of her owner, Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Leah Treat.

Treat broke the news herself on Twitter, early this afternoon:

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PBOT director Treat.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The bike that introduced Portland transportation director Leah Treat to pedal commuting can't catch a break: It's now been stolen once from each of the three cities where she's worked.

Its most recent swipe came some time Thursday night, when Treat cable-locked her blue Breezer Greenway in the loggia outside day care entrance at the Portland Building, where she works.

"Because I had a ton of meetings that night at various places around town, I ended up leaving her overnight," Treat, who joined the bureau in July, wrote in an email Monday. "I now know that wasn't such a smart thing to do."

The bike, which she's named Beatrice, has a white seat, white grips, black fenders and a "LaSalle" parking permit on the front fender.

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Because we can never get enough of hearing about how people get their stolen bikes back, we present you two more stories of stolen bike recovery success.

But before getting into some good news, we have some not-so-good news about our Stolen Bike Listings. Due to a software issue that's causing duplicate postings, I've decided to disable the listings until we can get it fixed. Sorry about that. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Our first story comes from Vancouver resident Branden Shelby. You might recall that Branden was the subject of one of our Ride Alongs back in April. A few months after our story, the same bike he rode with me that morning, a LeMond Poprad, was stolen from his side yard. Branden had put a lot of love into his bike, upgrading it over the years with a green Brooks saddle, green BMX pedals, and other nice touches. Unfortunately, he posted it to our Stolen Bike Listings on July 23rd with a $100 reward. (more...)

Metropolis lost several
thousand dollars in the theft.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Metropolis Cycle Repair (2249 N Williams Ave) was broken into last night, becoming just the latest in a long and steady stream of bike shop burglaries.

According to shop owner Nathan Roll, thieves took four bikes and "a few thousand dollars in tools and merchandise." The Police have been at the store all morning to assess the damage and document the crime.

Roll has emailed all the other shops in town to keep an eye out for the merchandise and he's hoping the larger community will help out too. He emailed us a list of the products that were stolen: (more...)

Still from new PPB video.
Watch it below.

The Portland Police Bureau has a long history of working with the community to catch bike thieves and educate folks about how to prevent bikes from being stolen in the first place. Today, with summer cycling season in full swing, they've released a video and a statement about bike theft prevention and recovery. The main focus of their message: Know your serial number.

"The Division has hundreds of unclaimed bikes, due to owners not knowing their serial numbers," reads their statement, "Only 34% of bike theft victims knew their bike's serial number last year - making it harder for police to identify the bike recovered."
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Whoever got this silver Specialized stolen yesterday, we have some good news.

This just in from reader Chris K.:

I was riding a block from the office yesterday when I saw the bike and recognized it as my coworkers. Followed to dude to a stop light and told him it was my friends and that I was going to get it back. He argued for a while while I was on the phone with the cops but eventually threw it down and walked away when he realized I was serious. The look on her face was priceless, when I carried the bike back into the office. That's two recovered bikes for me this summer!