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| Five bike thefts reported in three weeks |
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| Written by Chase Webster, The Shorthorn staff | ||||
| Thursday, 04 February 2010 09:59 PM | ||||
 Jason Trigg locks his bike up in front of the central library wenesday evening. Trigg lives near by and rides his bike to the library in order to use the computers. (The Shorthorn: Will LaVoncher) Three of the bikes were reported stolen from bike racks outside of student dorms, one was reported stolen from the bike rack outside of the health center, and one was reported missing after the student returned from winter break. None of the five bicycles have yet to be recovered. Assistant Police Chief Rick Gomez said none of the bikes were properly secured. Gomez said recovered bikes are usually found in pawnshops after the thief has sold them. He said not everyone on campus is affiliated with the university, and it doesn’t take much to steal a bike. “Students should make sure they are locking their bikes with suitable locks,” he said. “Lock your bike to a fixed object and the odds of it getting stolen go down.” Electrical engineering freshman Colton Sessler said he had his first bike stolen in November when it was locked to a bike rack outside Trinity Hall. He said the theft would not have happened if he had a better lock. “People warned me that someone could cut right through the wire,” he said. “I just hoped it wouldn’t happen.” Sessler said he found the cut wire where his bike had been and reported it to university police. “When I called it in they said they would get back to me,” he said. “They called me in to look at all the bikes and made an effort to help me find it.” Protect your bike
Source: Assistant Police Chief Rick Gomez Bikes registered with the National Bike Registry are much easier to track down, Gomez said. Stolen bikes are often brought to surrounding pawnshops to be resold, and if the bike has been registered, there is a greater chance of it being returned to the rightful owner. “We’ve been lucky and returned a few,” Gomez said. “Students don’t always register their bikes and they’re easy to steal.” Sessler’s new bike and the one that was stolen were both registered, he said. The first one he registered through his dorm and the second one he registered online. He said his new lock, which is a U-bolt, is more secure than the lock he had before. “With these chain locks it only takes one or two tries to cut through it and it’s gone,” he said. “You can’t cut through a U-bolt without making a lot of noise and drawing a lot of attention onto yourself.” To ensure a stolen bike can be identified by police and returned to its rightful owner upon recovery, Gomez encourages students to go to www.nationalbikeregistry.com and purchase a registration label for their bike. A tamper-free registration label costs $10 and will be mailed directly to the bike owner. Registered bikes can be returned to the bike owner regardless of where the bicycle is recovered. Views: 576 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 February 2010 11:55 PM ) | ||||
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