(Photo: Leah Benson)
Bike shop owner Leah Benson is Portland’s latest bike theft victim.
Benson owns Gladys Bikes at 2905 NE Alberta Street. She shared the bad news earlier this evening: “I received a call in the wee hours of the morning telling me that someone had shattered our front door and broken into the shop.”
The thieves made off with two bikes and Benson is urging everyone to keep an eye out for a Giant Liv Alight city bike and a Bianchi Lupo drop bar road bike. We know how stolen bikes tend to turn up shortly after being stolen, so time is of the essence! (Scroll down for photos of the bikes.)
Shop break-ins are all too common in Portland. We’ve reported on several in the past few years. Between November 2011 and February 2012, a thief known as the “window pane bandit” hit four separate shops.
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Here are the two bikes that were stolen:
Some shops have insurance that will cover the cost of stolen goods and property damage; but Gladys Bikes is still in its infancy as a business and Benson confided in her customers via Facebook that “We’re small and insurance doesn’t cover everything.” “Having a few thousands dollars worth of goods and window replacement,” she wrote, “isn’t the easiest pill to swallow.”
While Benson is obviously disturbed by what happened, she’s putting it all in perspective. “I’m saddened, I’m stressed and I’m angry,” she shared, “but I am also fully aware that Gladys Bikes getting broken into is not the worst thing that happened last night [a reference to what happened in Ferguson].”
Benson says if you’ve been thinking about getting a tune-up or getting a certain accessory, now would be a great time to show Gladys Bikes some retail shopping support.