But, because bank robberies are higher profile, they go after the bank robbers instead."ĭetective Goodwin estimates that one-third of heisted bikes were either unlocked or poorly locked-fastened with a cheap chain, with the lock securing only a wheel, or with a Kryptonite-style 'U' lock attached to an unstable object.
"In one robbery, we lost $10,000 worth of merchandise. "After a bike was stolen from our shop, one officer told me that every year, more money is lost to bike theft than bank robberies," says Dave Gittleman, a co-owner of Another Bike Shop. Most bike thefts-about 60 percent-go unreported, according to police.Īs many as 1,250 bikes vanish each year, according to estimates, costing victims upwards of a half-million dollars annually. But the one or two bikes reported stolen each day represent about half the actual number. Police get reports of about 500 missing bikes a year, valued at $300 to $500. Nobody knows the total number of bicycles that disappear due to theft. And it contains a mere fraction of the bicycles lost to a local epidemic of theft. This warehouse is the destination for only a small number of the bikes reported stolen in the city of Santa Cruz each year. "We see a bike or two a day come here," adds Marilyn Ellenwood, who watches over the forgotten goods for the SCPD Property Department. "The trade of stolen bikes is a huge, lucrative industry in Santa Cruz," says Detective Brad Goodwin, investigations officer for the SCPD, looking out over the sea of bicycles. It's just one of the Santa Cruz Police Department's several holding pens for unclaimed recovered stolen bikes. This remote storage shed on River Street isn't a bicycle theft ring's headquarters. Extending from a shelf of confiscated skateboards on one wall to random electronic equipment stacked across the room, a growing pile is taking over the musty room.
Vintage cruisers with wire baskets, titanium-frame mountain bikes, glossy lowriders and rusty 10-speeds lean in tight rows from wall to wall, and several seemingly brand-new BMXs hang from the ceiling. H AZY WINTER SUNLIGHT seeping into the dark warehouse from its half-open door illuminates every color and type of bike imaginable. Up to a half-million dollars' worth of bikes is stolen in the city of Santa Cruz every year-mostly to finance drug habits MetroActive News & Issues | Bicycle Theftīicycles Built for Two: Detective Brad Goodwin of SCPD believes that if the community were more concerned with bike theft, this police warehouse would be empty.
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