The heat from our 4th of July vacation on the hot side of this state was still dissipating from my body on my first day back to work when I got the text message on my phone. My buddy Matt texted me that our mutual friend Mike had his brand new Specialized Camber full suspension 29er bike stolen right out of the back of his son's El Camino while it was parked right in front of BarHop.
BarHop is a favorite haunt for cyclists in Port Angeles located right on the Waterfront Trail (WFT)/Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) across the street from the Black Ball Ferry Terminal. The Coho Ferry transits people from Port Angeles across the strait 17 miles to Victoria BC, Canada. BarHop has an outdoor seating section, spacious indoor seating, tasty wood-fired pizzas and a decent selection of BarHop brewed and guest beers (among other things).
As the story goes, it was Sunday night July 9th around 7-ish and Mike was periodically checking on his bike in the back of his son's El Camino while quaffing a few tasty pints o' beer with Matt. They had done some mountain biking on the Olympic Adventure Trail (OAT) and stopped in at BarHop for food and refreshments. Then, a huge calzone happened and there was a momentary lapse of checking on his UNLOCKED bike. Uh, that's why he was "periodically checking" on it. Matt finally asked whether or not Mike had checked recently and when Mike did, it was gone.
It was my first day back to work after a long and HOT week off. I was checking emails, phone calls, etc. I noticed my cell phone had a text message that arrived at 8:26 AM. It went something like this:
"Hey Dude. Mike had his brand new Specialized Camber 29 stolen tonight out of the back of [his son's] El Camino while parked right in front of BarHop. Here's a photo of mine for comparison. Same model and color. He had just checked on it from our seats minutes earlier."
Now some of you may or may not know, but as a Navy brat, I spent an inordinate amount of time in South Jersey right across the Walt Whitman Bridge learning how to dislike certain aspects of the human species, for namely thievery. I lost a Speedway sled (my "Rosebud") right off of the front porch of our house, a Green Dragon Stingray bike from Woodbury Heights Elementary School and my beloved Prince Racer 10 speed bike right out my garage while I was sitting and watching TV next to the window.
I saw the guy run up into our open garage and ride off with it. I chased him down the street barefoot. I was 15 or 16 and was paying for it by mowing our yard for $3/week. It was $114. Do the math! I was crestfallen . . . devastated . . . crushed. I learned a few things from these experiences.
- Out of sight, out of mind.
- Lock it or lose it.
- Don't worship material things.
- Don't trust humans.
My first reaction to Matt's text to me was, it wasn't locked. What did you expect? But, this ain't Jersey, dammit! I'm the "Man from ATAPA" which is a group but mostly a list of email addresses I collected several years ago that are fellow cyclists. I'm also an administrator of the Port Angeles Likes Bikes Facebook page and have been dubbed the creator of the Bicycle Advisory Committee of Clallam County (BAC).
ATAPA is Active Transportation Advocacy of (the greater) Port Angeles (area). I've been advocating on behalf of around 200 local and a few formerly local cyclists for those several years hence and letting them know what I know is going on with regard to cycling related events in the area. I do this usually by soliciting opinions from my constituents on what various local agencies should be prioritizing regarding multi-modal infrastructure and representing them at such decision-making council/commissioner meetings, and eliciting their participation in web-based cycling metrics such as the National Bike Challenge, etc.
Sadly, every now and then, I get notices from my constituents and friends that a bike was stolen. With not much optimism, much anger and more frustration than anything else, I'll post the stolen bike to all of the ATAPA folks via email and now the Port Angeles Likes Bikes (PALB) Facebook page, all cops I know and any other resources I can think of. So, this time, I did just that after garnering more information about the bike in question.
Meanwhile, on my morning commute, I noticed a bike parked between the industrial water pipeline and the first bridge eastbound on the WFT. I remembered that after reading the email and decided to check and see if it was possible that that was Mike's stolen bike by taking a ride back to it on my first break around 9:30ish. I rode down to the spot but it was gone. I then headed up Francis St. to the midtown EZ-Pawn and checked to see if it might've been pawned there even though I didn't think they were open on Sunday's after 8 PM. No luck, so I rode back to the office.
I had written the following email almost immediately but didn't realize that I hadn't sent it until 12:51 PM. In it I asked:
"So, do we have a serial number? Any distinguishing features/scratches/battle damage/stickers/etc. that we can use to identify this particular bike? Did Mike file it with the police as a stolen bike? I'm thinking there may be footage available via city webcams and/or the ferry terminal. We'll need to see if we can access this data from them. One idea I have is that this may be an operation run from out of town to bigger cities like Tacoma or Seattle, or even Victoria, etc. Or it just may be a crime of opportunity. Was anyone outside that could ID the suspect/incident?
Let me know what other info you have such as time and date. You said tonight but I only received the text at 8:36 AM today, July 10th.
Thanks (and sorry to hear about this)"I had cc-ed Mike and he responded at 12:56 PM:
"Dude,
Yes filed police report. No witnesses. Serial # is ________________. This sucks. Occurred in front of barhop (parking area at around 7:20 PM Sunday. Slaking thirst after 20 miles on trail.
Bike less dude."Once I had this info, I finalized an All Points Bulletin (APB) to the ATAPA group, PALB FB page and got word to post it on PNW Lost/Stolen Bikes FB page. I don't think it was more than ten minutes before I received a call from a friend who had a flash recall of a helmet-less rider riding a very nice bike wearing clothing that didn't seem to fit the bike he was riding. This friend was actually riding to BarHop around the same time my email/post mentioned but he could not recall much more detail other than he thought the guy was heading eastbound on the WFT just east of Ennis Creek.
This narrowed it down for me. I was worried the bike was heading out of town by one form of transportation or another. But, now this appeared to be a local crime of opportunity. And, since we now were fairly confident the suspect was on the WFT heading east, I wanted to find out if we could get camera footage of the crime in progress and a better idea of what the suspect looked like. That afternoon, I took my second break by riding down to BarHop and surveying the security camera locations along the possible suspect's trail. I felt pretty confident that we could track the bike down sooner or later.
I noticed that BarHop didn't appear to have any security camera's installed around the outside of their establishment, but the neighboring hobby shop did. I inquired within but the clerk said he did not have access to the footage and I should return tomorrow to when his boss would be in and ask him. Right in front of the ferry terminal, there was what appeared to be City installed security camera mounted on a light post. There was another one similarly mounted near the playground at the City Pier. I decided to visit the Port Angeles Police Department and find out whether we could gain access to the footage from these cameras for the time frame of the crime. They humored me and said they'd look into it.
I returned to my office and wondered where any of this would go. From other city incidents, we knew there would be difficulty getting any decent identifying imagery. But, at least we could get a look at what clothing the suspect was wearing and what his build was, etc. I began wondering what my home commute should be. Where was he heading east to? There are some neighborhoods east along the trail that may harbor certain opportunist-type thieves. There was also a brand new pawn shop where Peking China Bar burned to the ground.
Then, around 3:50 PM, my friend John called and said that he was across the street from my office in the Safeway parking lot and thinks he's looking at the stolen bike based on the pictures I posted. He asked me who's bike it was and to get him to call his cell phone. I emailed John's cell number to Matt and Mike and hopped on my bike to personally identify the bike. Unfortunately, I was so excited I forgot to record the route, but it's pretty simple.
I headed south on Lincoln, turned right on 3rd St. then turn left into the northeastern entrance to the Safeway Parking Lot behind their gas station. I no sooner entered the lot when I spotted a couple walking a black Specialized Camber full suspension 29er mountain bike! I noticed it had a rather bulky CatEye taillight like the one I bought for Mike. When he commutes to work, he has to ride the "Highway of Death", Highway112. So I got him a BIG taillight that was the biggest, brightest and best at the time. I knew almost instantly that this was Mike's bike. I immediately called 911 on my cell phone.
The couple were walking the bike across 3rd St. eventually heading north on Lincoln St. They stopped briefly in front of Strait View Credit Union. The guy had handed off the bike to the gal and did something while she dropped the bike and they both picked it back up and he took it back over and continued walking heading north on Lincoln. I was on the phone with the police dispatch describing where I was, who I was, where the suspects were and describing them and what they were wearing.
The guy was wearing a green tuke beanie/ski cap with a black hoodie and shorts. He was a white male, not more than around 5-foot 10 weighing maybe 150 pounds with black hair and a facial hair of some sort. The gal was wearing a fluorescent yellow hoodie and jeans, was dishwater blonde and weighed about the same and was close to his height. My friend John had the presence of mind to take pictures and videos. I was on bike and talking to the dispatcher and trying not to be too obvious following them down Lincoln.
They turned left, heading west on First St.--which is one way eastbound--and I got off the sidewalk and behind John in his car as we waited for the light to change. By the time the light changed, we could just see them ducking into Michael's parking lot mid-block. John headed down to Front St.--which is one way westbound--and I headed west into the alley mid-block along Lincoln between First and Front. I knew Sound Bikes and Kayaks usually had their rear door open so I could use that entry as a ducking point and ditch my bike and helmet in case they figured I was following them.
I noticed the stolen bike was leaning against a recycling dumpster at the time I ducked into SB&K. By the time I peeked around the rear door I saw the couple walking the bike again, down the alley westbound so I quickly regained my bike and helmet and was able to quickly tell Brian I was in hot pursuit of a stolen bike. Brian got excited and mentioned he might have to turn on the shop police scanner. I cautiously and slowly trailed the suspects as they proceeded west across Laurel to the adjacent, continuing alley. They parked the bike beside the back entrance to EZ-Pawn and both entered the building leaving the bike outside.
I closed on the bike on my bike and pondered whether I should steal it back? But would that be justice? Besides, I'd already had cops coming. No, I took the opportunity to turn the bike upside down and snap a pic of the serial number on the crank bottom. Even though I had received an email of the serial number from Mike, I didn't have access to my work email through my phone, at least not at the ready. So I called Matt and asked him to text it to me.
But that wasn't before the pawn shop clerk came out the back door with the female suspect decrying how she "really needs the money and needed to pay bills and rent" and whatever. I spoke up and said, "that's too bad because this isn't your bike. It's my friend's bike that was stolen last night." The shop clerk asked me if I was sure and if I checked the serial number to see if it matched. Okay, I lied a bit and said, "Yes". The woman said, in a shaky and quavering voice, that it was her boyfriend's. The clerk said, "if this is not your bike (to the woman), then that changes everything."
I hadn't had time to really look at the serial number and didn't quite have it to match to at that time anyway. But come on, the couple walking down the street to the pawn shop with a $2K bike that matched exactly the description of a bike stolen the night before, didn't look like kind of couple that had the wherewithal to even ever own or fucking ride something like this! I knew it was Mike's bike. I just knew it.
Cyclists can be broadly classified into two major groups, the Wannas and the Havetas. The Wannas are those that simply "want to" ride a bicycle, for recreation, to commute to work, for exercise, etc. These folks buy the bikes and wear the gear for their preferred use. Recreation riders wear spandex if they're roadies, baggier clothing if they're mountain bikers. Commuters tend to ride hybrids and often where sensible commuting clothes that tend to look like work clothes for their occupations. Almost all of them wear helmets
The Havetas, either can't afford any other means of transportation or have lost their vehicle and/or license so they "have to" ride a bike. These folks wear whatever they have on, often ride on the wrong side of the road or against one way traffic or on sidewalks. The biggest giveaways for these folks are their types of bikes, the condition the bikes are in, almost never a helmet and often smoking while riding. The suspect couple in question, based on their clothing alone, fall into this category. The gear they wore didn't fit the bike.
I told the clerk I had called the cops and they were on their way. I immediately dialed 911 again and began speaking with another dispatcher updating them on where I was, who I was, what was going on, etc. It felt uncomfortable answering questions like what was my name and my phone number in front of the female suspect, but I seriously doubted she could/would remember them as she seemed quite distraught over the whole ordeal.
The pawn shop clerk asked me if we could bring the bike into the shop. I wasn't comfortable with that idea and said I wanted to be in a public setting. He assured me it'd be okay and that they had lots of video security cameras active in the shop. I began wondering where the male suspect was and thought I'd seen him pacing up (heading south) Laurel St. talking on his cell phone. I finally figured it'd be safer to have film footage if any conflicts occurred. I didn't want to be stabbed in an alley came to mind and we brought the bike in.
It seemed like forever for the police to show up, but I had no idea what their workload was at the time. Inside, I finally got the serial numbers texted to me and was able to verify the identity of the bike. It was Mike's!!! No flippin' DOUBT!!! My buddy John had been hanging back and tried to track where the male suspect had gone. He was the first to talk to the cops when they finally arrived. The female suspect was apprehended but claimed she didn't know the bike was stolen. Apparently, according to the cop on the scene, she had some mental issues. For example, why didn't she just run away like her boyfriend did?
I was talking to John when the police officer came in identified me and the stolen bike in question. He checked the serial number with the number Matt texted me. I told him it was my friend's bike and he told me to get him down here. So I called Mike and told him to come down to the pawn shop and claim his bike. The police officer gave John and I statement forms to fill out.
Mike finally showed up and we asked if we could just go. That's when the boss pawn shop owner(?) guy raised his voice and said nothing's going anywhere without a warrant and full payment on the pawned item. We explained that it wasn't pawned and the earlier clerk confirmed that fact and the boss guy then calmed down and said, "Oh. Okay. Never mind then."
Anyway, the police figured out who the male suspect was and told us that there was a $20,000 bench warrant thingy on him. So they knew who he was and it was just a matter of time before he gets apprehended. I found it stupefying that the suspect stole a bike the night before and literally tried to pawn it the next day by walking down the main streets of Port Angeles in broad daylight at a pawn shop that was one block away from where he stole the bike! How this guy is not in jail right now, I cannot fathom.
We asked if we could go and finally got the okay. My buddy Mike was ecstatic and bought us beers and hot dogs at Station 51 half a block away. My wife and Matt showed up but unfortunately, John had to leave to pack for New York. He was leaving the next day and it was just the day before that he and his wife returned from a trip to North Dakota. It was just damned lucky that he had to do a bit of grocery shopping and spot that oddest of combinations, nice bike and sketchy characters dressed like people that don't ride.
Please remember to lock your bike and keep it out of sight if possible. Write down your bike's serial number(s), take a good picture of it and keep that information in a safe, easily accessible place. Register your bike with the local authorities. And most of all, remain calm and . . . cycle on!
UPDATE 07/12/17:
So I took some time to tool around in search of the perpetrator of the formerly stolen bike on each of my breaks today. Nothing came of it and I actually had some progress on a project I'd been slaving over. Anyway, I stayed up rather late last night posting the above info and was running pretty tired around 4-ish. Reading scientific research papers on the energy densities of macroinvertebrates gets rather dry even if they are "benthic"! So I switched over to trying to find a map to print of the upcoming Canoe Journey requested by the Tribe's Chairwoman.
Soon enough, it was quittin' time. I got up and was glancing out of my office north facing window in the old Carnegie Library building when I spied a guy dressed in a black baseball cap, bright white T-shirt and . . . lo and behold, the same damn shorts the perpetrator wore on Monday! He had the same weird facial hair, a rather long across the face mustache and a small goatee (kinda like Wild Bill Hickok or Doc Holliday or something). I couldn't believe my eyes. I reviewed the video and sure enough, same damn shorts, same damn facial hair style! I dialed 911 immediately and reported while the perpetrator got into the same damn truck that the "formerly stolen bike" was leaning against at the Safeway parking lot on Monday.
Earlier, someone in a white T-shirt and dark hat had walked down our office hall, past my single speed Specialized San Francisco Langster and peaked in the my open office door. I turned and just caught a glimpse but he went down the hall to the south and spoke to Cameron and Kim at the south end of the building. Apparently, he was trying to pay his fish taxes. Our Office Manager was out for the afternoon so no one could help him. So he left and that's when I saw him. UFB!
I had reported to my two remaining office mates that I had seen the perp and they said, "Just now?" I described the guy to them and they were both astounded. The world shrunk in our little part of town. We now know we'll likely be seeing him again, if indeed he was a fisherman. I'm a tad paranoid that he somehow had scoped out who I was, but . . .
I decided to ride around a bit starting with taking Franki up 2nd St. westbound, into the wind to see if I could spot the rig. He had picked up a male on 2nd St. next to the New Moon Pub and continued on 2nd St. westbound until I couldn't see the vehicle anymore. I had called my buddies Matt and Mike to report all this and when I got to the top of 2nd St., I received a call back from Matt. I had to explain a bit, cause he's from Buffalo, but I received another call while that was going on from the PAPD. I switched over and spoke to an officer and gave her every detail I could think of. She thanked me for it and we ended the call.
I rode on thinking I may be able to spy the rig parked somewhere near the marina or apartments near the waterfront, but that didn't pan out. So I meandered home, into and with the wind wondering, when will we see this guy again. Cameron and Kim had asked, what should the Office Manager do if he comes back in to pay his fish taxes? I said, remain calm. Let him pay his taxes and call the police as soon as he leaves. That may be as soon as tomorrow!
