I’ve been sent images of a suspected bike thief in action; but neither myself or the person who sent them to me can figure out what exactly the guy is up to. I figured I’d share the images and see if your collective wisdom could help.
The images (see them below) were taken at the bike corral in front of Ace Hotel on SW Oak Street in downtown Portland. The person who sent them to me sits at his desk right above it and says he notices “quite a bit” of theft and vandalism. But today, he “caught a weird one.”
Here’s how he describes what happened:
“Man (who clearly doesn’t own this bike) rode up on the bike corral, took out the bike seat, which looked like it never came out before, flipped the bike over and “stashed” it, then hitch hiked a ride seconds later.”
The person who snapped the photos went down and rescued the bike and it’s currently being stored in a secure location. The question is. What now? And, what the heck is this guy doing?
My first reaction was that maybe it’s some kind of ruse to have the stolen bike switch hands in order to throw off anyone who might have seen the initial theft and would recognize the original thief. In other words, the first guy snatches the bike, then he leaves it for a second guy to ride off with it. But why remove the seat and flip the bike over? Perhaps to make it un-rideable for anyone else?
Or maybe it is actually his bike (although the guy who snapped the photos — a skilled bike thief watcher — thinks otherwise) and he’s just stashing it because he didn’t want to bike home?
I can’t figure it out. Maybe you can. Check the photos below. (And if it’s your bike, get in touch and I’ll tell you how to get it back.)
