West End Bikes, the new shop that just opened at the beginning of February on the corner of SW Stark and 11th in downtown Portland, was broken into this morning. Shop owner Mark Ontiveros tells us that it happened at about 3:00 am and the thief made out with a bunch of products and luckily, just one bicycle.
According to Ontiveros, the thief grabbed a large Mission Workshop “Vandal” backpack, stuffed it with u-locks, blinky lights, and handfuls of Oakley sunglasses. Then, using bolt-cutters, the thief clipped into a row of high-end Specialized bikes and took one to use as a getaway vehicle.
The bike that was stolen was a Specialized Ruby Elite Apex (size 51cm they think). Here’s an image of the bike…
Ontiveros says the shop has surveillance cameras and they are looking over the tapes now with a Portland Police officer. Please keep your eyes peeled if you see the missing bike and/or any of the stolen goods described above. If you have any information, please call the shop at (503) 208-2933.
Sounds like an idiot to me. Packs a backpack with heavy locks worth $25-$75 a piece retail instead of crazy light/expensive components. Wtf?
Most criminals are not the sharpest tools in the shed.
Nationale Gallery on Burnside East was broken into early on the morning of 3/31. Don’t know if there is any connection, but maybe pass on to parties just in case.
Hope Mark’s shop is covered on the loss through insurance- and that they catch the thief. The bike/eye candy in the window with full custom Chris King/Alligator skin seat/everything else custom-you-can-think-of would have been a tragic loss. Good thing thieves are almost always idiots in addition to being morally deficient.
Wow, talk about siding with the thief.
My suggestion to the thief is to load up on water bottles. Much lighter than locks. Takes up more space in your stolen backpack, and costs the store a lot less .
How’d they break in? Probably by busting one of those big, beautiful, so far…un-barred windows.
For years, that section of Stark has been home to very hard core drug users and other kinds of desperate people. They’ve got nothing to lose, and a nice shot of adrenaline to gain by an easy grab and snatch like this.
Hoping you can post the surveillance footage when you get it. (Same goes for the Nationale Gallery)
From experience, the stolen stuff is normally the smallest part of the bill… new windows and doors, alarms etc. are the costly and time consuming part!
…not to forget the really shitty violated feeling and being called in the middle night…
Nice job stealing a girls bike-
So sorry to hear this, Mark. At least they didn’t take one of the Beloveds. We are all supporting you. You have a great shop with a dedicated staff. Hang in there!
I think the worst loss when robbed like this is the loss of peace of mind, loss of feelings of good will towards fellow man etc. When my home got robbed the missing stuff was nothing compared to the anger that someone would be so mean to me, who had done nothing to harm them.
High-end bike….displayed with pedals? I dislike crime!
This sucks. I’m a business owner and this is one of my nightmares
The headline, however, needs to be rewritten. This business was not robbed, it was burgularized. There is a big difference. Bad enough that the lowlifes stole from the business, but at least they didn’t threaten the employee’s personal safety.
Very common mistake, like the one many people make between assault and battery.
Robbery – someone is held up by someone else
Burglary – someone takes something from a residence. If a door is forced, window is broken – add “Breaking and Entering”
Larceny – when a person’s property is taken without entering a structure or holding up a person (taking something from someone’s yard, stealing a bike)
Assault – the threat or use of force against another person. No contact or injury is required
Battery – when damage to a person occurs as the result of an assault
The first 3 types are all forms of “theft”, but are recognized and charged differently.
Shouldn’t take long to spot a black bike with a purple swoosh on it. Probably won’t get any compensation from the guy when he gets caught. Store owner will lose time going to court also. Then the guy will get released early because of overcrowded jails… sad
Disappointing! I love West End Bikes, the innovative products they sell and the very friendly and helpful salespeople.
I think a woman did this. 51cm is a fairly small frame.
Stole the Oakley sunglasses? This can mean only one thing, hipsters!
Isn’t there some sort of holiday that falls on April 1st?