(Photo: Bike Clark County)
The Vancouver Police Department announced this morning that they have arrested two men for stealing bicycles that were used by non-profit Bike Clark County (BCC) in their kids programs.
From the VPD media release:
… they arrested Matthew Robert Smith, 27 and Jory John Aultman, 19. They were booked for Burglary II and Trafficking Stolen Property… One bicycle was recovered and other bicycles are believed to still be in the neighborhood. Anyone with information on these bicycles, or the burglary, is asked to call Vancouver Police Det. Adam Millard at (360) 487-7449. The investigation is continuing.
The bikes were stolen from the Hough Pool (where they were stored) on August 7th. According to BCC President Eric Giacchino, 15 bikes were stolen in addition to a case of new inner tubes, a few parts, helmets, and a work stand (note that this number of stolen bikes is much lower than the 29 first reported).
The bikes include a mix of 24 and 26-inch wheeled mountain bikes. All of them are made by Giant. Below is the list (supplied by Giacchino) and estimated retail price of each of the bikes.
Six, 26-inch Giant Boulders (in photo above): Blue and Sliver with front suspension: Approximate value: $600 each
Serial numbers:
CB5RC755 Small
C36VD30161 Small
CC5K6239 Small
C36PC5721 Small
CC5KG2211 Small
C16ND991 LargeTen, 24’ Giant MTX two-twenty-five: (see photo above, right) Silver Approximate Retail replacement Value: $450 each
Serial numbers and sizes:
AZ4L17360 Small
16??? Small
AT5L34971 Small
AZ4L13818 Small
AT5L34946 Small
AW4L13725 Small
AT5L36598 Small
AZ4L16588 Small
AW4L13963 Small
AZ4L17347 Small
Please keep your eyes peeled on Craigslist, pawn shops, garage sales, and elsewhere for these bikes.
On August 18th, in his group’s monthly email newsletter, Giacchino said while the theft wasn’t as bad as initially reported, “It still hits our budding organization hard.” He also shared that, while he’s aware the current shop space (an old, drained-out public swimming pool) isn’t idea, “It’s free, and without much of a budget, free is a good price for now.”
Fortunately, Giacchino says they still have enough bikes to hold their bike safety course for middle-schoolers that begins this spring. The Board of Bike Clark County is also prepping to replace some of the other bikes.
The VPD is continuing their investigation and says the remaining bikes are believed to still be in the neighborhood. Anyone with information on these bicycles, or the burglary, is asked to call Vancouver Police Detective Adam Millard at (360) 487-7449.
Thanks for reading.
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I’m really glad to hear that BCC’s school program can keep going! It’s a great, much-needed program, and Eric Giacchino is an awesome guy for driving it forward. Here’s hoping the rest of the bikes are recovered, soon! Maybe those crooks can be turned to squeal to help that happen.
With the value of stolen goods involved, doesn’t this constitute grand larcency?
I checked all of those posted serial numbers at http://www.stolenbicycleregistry.com/ and all of them came up “no close/fuzzy matches…” I dropped a note to the info@ contact listed on the BCC website but if anyone has a better contact, please put a bug in their ear.
Hi. I run stolenbicycleregistry.com. I had sent in an email to the BCC when the first story hit, asking for serials and info, & never heard back. Now that they’ve been posted here, I’ll load them into the serial search.
-bhance
thanks!!
As a member of BCC, this is amazing news! I have a good feeling about the recovery of the rest of the bicycles! 🙂
One of the posted names in the article is wrong and therefore the true story was never told. Vancouver Police is like a 3rd world area that makes their own rules in investigations. If you thought they hold up to the law of the US than you thought wrong. The story doesn’t go as such and things were left out of it. therefore the story with this was never what it seemed. I should know I was there when one of them got arrested.