L.A. sees big jump in bike thefts, prompting some vigilante justice

Although crime across L.A. is dropping, there is one glaring exception: bicycle thefts, which rose 29% last year. Nearly 2,000 bikes were reported stolen last year -- and authorities believe the actual number of thefts was much higher because so many people don’t report stolen bikes.

LAPD detectives believe the increase is due in part to more people using bikes to get around in some neighborhoods. A Times analysis found the USC campus, downtown L.A. and Venice to be hot spots for bike thefts.

Detectives recently broke up a bicycle theft ring and nabbed two men who swiped bikes downtown and sold them on Craigslist. At the motel of one of the alleged thieves, they said they found bolt cutters, hacksaws and a Mercedes-Benz equipped with a bike rack.

Some bike messengers last month took justice into their own hands when they caught two suspected thieves, teenage boys who attended a local Catholic high school. According to police, the messengers stripped down the teens to their boxer shorts before taking their cellphones, backpacks and clothes.

“They meted out street justice. We don’t condone street justice. They never threatened them. But they made it clear: don’t mess with another person’s property,” Los Angeles Police Lt. Paul Vernon said. “This incident and the arrests are the tip of the iceberg when comes to people stealing bicycles.”

Vernon said the two boys told police they were robbed by about 20 men on bicycles at 6th Street and Grand Avenue about 3 p.m. on Jan. 12. Investigators said they cannot prove the boys were stealing bikes and continue to look for the assailants. 

Still, the incident has been the talk of the downtown biking world. “There wasn’t any violence. ... They were stripped of their clothes and sent home,” said bike messenger Douglas Forrest, who says the action was the talk of various bike shops and collectives.

In the downtown area, the number of bikes reported stolen increased last year by 57% -- and cyclists have noticed. “They’ll take anything they can get these days. It has gotten really bad." Forrest said.

Downtown, bicycles are most likely to be stolen between noon and 6 p.m. and Wednesdays are the hottest days for theft, according to an LAPD analysis. The Richard Riordan Library, named incidentally for the cycling former mayor, is a favorite spot for thieves. Poorly designed racks out of sight from passersby make it easier for thieves, said L.A. cycle activist Steve Box.

Ironically, Box said, some of the worst positioned racks can be found at the new LAPD headquarters. Some of the upside-down U-shaped racks the city uses have even been cut and the gap covered with stickers, he said. Bike thieves simply slip out the locked bicycles.

-- Richard Winton

Photo: Hundreds of recovered bicycles in an LAPD warehouse downtown. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Meghan]

I just had my bike stolen for the 2nd time from the subway station.
I had noticed knicks in the plastic around my lock as though someone had tried cutting it before, but they finally succeeded.
The time before that, the bike was taken from inside my parking garage.
Scumbags.

[butters]

but of course bicyclists approve of vigilante justice... its all part of the rank sense of entitlement most of them seem to feel. rule of the law like traffic laws and social niceties such as common courtesy towards pedestrians and motorists alike isnt in their vocabulary, but let a car almost hit one of them (usually because a bicyclist thinks the rules of the road are optional) or let one of their fixies gets stolen and them scream to high heaven about "justice". so now bicyclists want the right to assault people they deem "suspects" without due process of law...brilliant. im sure this is gonna end well...

[joe blow]

Ever notice how many illegals ride bikes...Gee,big crime mystery here!

[AL]

STAN: lemme guess...the Mexicans were the good guys and the blacks the bad?? Why do you have to make race an issue of this?? Go back to the midwest where you belong, idiot.

[Jay]

In VENICE you see guys riding bicycles carrying extra wheels or frames on Venice Boulevard all the time and the Police NEVER stop them. It's just a low priority out here.

I've had 5 stolen and never reported a one-why bother!

Jay

[victim of bike theft]

i've heard stories of police officers refusing to file a report for theft of bicycles, those teenagers we're lucky they didn't get beat and left in an alley.
not only were they stripped of clothes, their cellphones were used to call their parents to inform them of their circumstance.

maybe if the bicycle community felt like the LAPD was stopping or at least lowing bike theft, the would not feel the need to take such actions.

[Aaron]

This really has gotten out of control! I encourage everyone to sign up for FREE at www.karmaarmy.com and register your gear!

You can upload serial numbers, descriptions and photos of your bike and connect with thousands of like-minded peeps protecting their gear to. It's a really rad grass-roots one-stop source for protecting and also recovering your gear. Hopefully it never happens, but if your stuff is stolen, an alert goes out to every karma army member in your region. More eyes means more chances your stuff is recovered. Check it out and good luck!!!

Aaron

[Gaby C]

"...The action was the talk of various bike shops and collectives." Collectives? What is this, Berkeley?

[Captain Annonymous]

At the incident where the youngsters were involved, attempts were made to flag down sherriffs . But they took off to tend to more important matters... For the record they were caught red handed with tools in hand on a courier's bike, who happened to be inside a building, trying to make a living. When they called "Dad" on one of the kids phones, they explained what happened and the father said , "Good, I'll deal with him too when he gets home." I'm not a big fan of violence, especially on minors. But when the cops don't want to help, what options do you have. I think those guys handled it real well. I don't think you'll catch those guys stealing bikes anymore....

[George]

Obviously LA area law enforcement is unable to deal with the issue, so therefore they should step aside whenever victims take action to deal with it and not be so quick to squeal "Foul".

[Dan]

I had a bike stolen from a fenced yard last year. I chased the guy down the street. In retrospect I'm glad I didn't catch up to him. I'm not sure how far I would've gone with the bat in my hand.

[Kerry H.]

I've had two bikes stolen.

I usually carry a knife.

If I catch someone trying to steal one of my two new bikes they better be packing something as well.

There's a special section of hell for bike thieves.

[George]

As a teenager in the '60s, I earned the princely sum of $3/week for delivering newspapers by bicycle.

When that bicycle was stolen, I lost not only my livelihood but also my most precious possession.

For a time, my grief was nearly unbearable not only because of my loss but because I had become aware of how utterly vile and uncaring some humans can be.

[masterofmeander]

There's something larger at issue here--an unpleasant fact of life revealing what might become a trend long overdue...

I've worked in the courts and criminal justice system. Anyone who imagines "justice is served" or "the people" adequately protected is either seven-years-old, magnificently ignorant or, intellectually speaking, damaged freight. Fact is, cops care two calories about your stolen bike, roughly eight less than a murder and rape, unless there's press. And if you, bike person, are insured by State Farm, and the company tells you to screw off? Here's the drill: ask "Flathead, or Phillips?"

But make no mistake: Mistress Justice may be blind, but she's the most jealous of all our clay-footed Gods; she will crucify these "vigilantes" if she can. The cops and the courts fear this more than anything else: common citizens rising up against system too broken to reform. What the law must continue to do, is command loyalty--obedience, at least--from people not yet criminal. If that fails, there's only madness.

That's true, too. Unless, of course, mayhem and chaos rise into madness, or rob sane people of hope. In that case, the issue is, at last, moot.

[Craziest Internet Comment Awards Selection Board]

Although the competition was pretty steep, the award for Craziest Internet Comment for this article is awarded to Jim M! Congratulations Jim! You're nuts!

[Chad]

This street justice isn't an isolated incident: We can't get any police to enforce traffic laws in West LA at all anymore. After a hit and run by one of my neighbors (which the police failed to investigate) the victim's family assaulted him and destroyed his car.

Frankly, given the lack of police presence (and further cutbacks coming), I'm on the verge of condoning this. If there's no other means of keeping order, we have to do something.

[Beezleboss]

The bike messengers did the right thing as they know LAPD is a joke at best.
Keep it up guy's. protect those work vehicles.
As for the race card being pulled. Lame!people have a choice to do good things or bad things no matter what color or race they are!

Also pertaining to the cyclist acting as though they have more rights then car drivers and breaking laws.
Every Car Driver Breaks The Law!!!!!!! lets list a few:)
1 speeding! Everyone does it! and if you disagree you are full of it!!
2 turning left or right before a pedestrian is across the cross walk and or not yielding to them at all.
3 double parking not just in the bike lane but everyplace.
4 no turn signal being used for 100 feet before turning right. this one pisses me off the most as this is when I get pinched!
5 making a left on red. this happens more than anything else.
These laws I see being broken every day by hundreds of cars drivers so suck!!!! it!!

Car drivers"Pretending"to be able to operate a ton's worth of steel with people around after taking the DMV's half hour training.

Most pedestrians and cyclist have to walk and ride very aggressively to get away from Car drivers so if you people don't like that too bad. deal with it.
Also on a final note that has to do with a bit of history!
You should thank cyclist as if it were not for us you would be driving you're Bentleys on gravel and dirt roads and that my retarded friends is a fact!!!!!!

[JB]

""...The action was the talk of various bike shops and collectives." Collectives? What is this, Berkeley?"

No Gaby, it's even better, it's Los Angeles.

If you all haven't been to one of the Do It Yourself Bike Co-ops / Collectives in town, and you ride regularly, and would like to learn more about how to fix your ride, you'd be well-advised to check out one of the four that are currently up and running:

http://www.bikerowave.org
http://www.bicyclekitchen.com/
http://bikeoven.com/
http://www.valleybikery.com/bikery/html.html

[Schmoe, Joe]

[[One reason so many bike thefts aren't reported is that too often, the police haven't been willing to take the reports. I've read complaints from a number of cyclists who say they've called the police to report a theft, and never received a response from the LAPD. Posted by: bikinginla | February 11, 2010 at 01:11 PM]]

a stolen bike probably ranks just above a noise complaint for a cop or a police dispatcher. you might have to wait a couple of hours for a cop to show up to take the report.

[RabidinL.A.]

Wow, I've been censured. No notable offenses. Shame on you. And here I thought I was safe for being not only native but safe from Fox news...

[RabidinL.A.]

If millions of parents had taught their offspring this very simple premise, "They never threatened them. But they made it clear: don’t mess with another person’s property,” we wouldn't have this pandemic crime and many others. While the Police don't condone street justice, we the people wish we didn't have to deal with it to begin with. A definite case in point for welfare, health care and even war. We also don't believe in wasting precious Police time and expertise, court time, expect our hard earned and abusively taxed wages, on stolen bicycles. Please, feel free to dedicate your precious time to capturing monsters and other public enemies.

[Timber]

I live around the corner from a low-rider bike shop in Venice. Though it hasn't happened in a while, for a time we had lots of stripped bikes in the alley, as if someone nearby was harvesting parts off them and dumping the hulks.

[robert]

Damn, Jim M.

Illegal alien bike messengers "...transport meth AND cocaine to prosperous downtown business folks.." .

You seem pretty knowledgeably about the subject.

Sounds like someone needs a little drug rehab.

[paco garnav]

"Collectives? What is this, Berkeley?"

haha, Gaby. Be afraid, be very afraid!
next thing you know we're gonna have collective bakery and pizza places where the employees are, gasp!, part owners that actually care about churning out a good product! geez. i've also seen they've started stocking up food without preservatives and with natural ingredients at our supermarkets... but there are groups of anarchists out there who are trying to subvert the system and are gathering (possibly stolen produce) at stands on weekends to sell them and fund their movement - and they call them farmer's markets.

now let's get back to focus on these illegal alien bike messenger crews that slang coke and meth to the rich... yeah, that's what it is.

i love LA. :)

[William]

@ Gaby C

There are at least three collectives or non-profits that provide space for working on bicycles. Bicycle Kitchen (Near LACC), Bike Oven (Northeast LA), and Bikerowave (Santa Monica).

I often see people in the area of USC riding a bike while holding onto one. However, I don't have any desire to confront them, or means to do anything if I did. Also though, I have left my bike at work and caught a ride home with a friend, only to return the next day on a bike which I strapped the first one to to get them both home. I might have looked pretty suspicious to.