It’s been way too long since I last shared a stolen bike recovery story, so I was very pleased to get a call last week from local theft victim Michael Kloeppel.
Back in December, Michael lost his entire fleet of beloved, high-end bikes when thieves hit his Woodstock home.
On Thursday, nearly five months later, he received a call from a hard-working southeast precinct police officer. Here’s the rest of the story as told by Michael:
“…I’m still giddy that I got two of my bikes back…
Yesterday afternoon I received a call at work from the SE Portland Police precinct informing me that they thought they had recovered two of my bikes. When my Colango Fixie and Serotta Nova Special X showed up at the precinct, the detective realized they weren’t just ordinary bikes, and might not have serial numbers, so he turned to your website and searched for “colnago” which retuned the entry you posted for me.
So thanks to a resourceful detective and your website, I have been reunited with two of my bikes!”
Great news Michael, I’m glad you’ll have your bikes back just in time for spring.
Since launching the Stolen Bike Listings in September 2005, we’ve had 610 bikes listed and have recovered at least 20 of them (that I’m aware of).
This success has come from key partnerships with the Portland Police Bureau, the City of Portland, and Finetoothcog.
Summer is approaching, so be extra careful out there. For theft prevention tips and more inspiring recovery stories, check out the BikePortland Bike Theft story archives.