News / Crime
Cyclist watches powerlessly as person walks away with ‘stolen bike’
A cyclist who reported her bike stolen to the police only for it to show up in the possession of someone else days later, conveyed her sense of powerlessness as police were unable to do anything.
Leonor Guimaraes, who lives in St Pauls, describes how the situation transpired and her frustration as she watched the alleged suspect walk away.
“My bike got stolen on the night of April 10, when I went to the Love Inn. I left my bike just outside the venue, locked to the bike racks,” she says.
She has had the bike for three years and says she is always vigilant about where the safest place to chain her bike to and noted that the place had CCTV and many people people outside.
But within a few hours her Fiido bike was gone.
Leonor’s Fiido bike when she first got it
When she approached the staff at Love Inn to review the CCTV, she describes how the man stood confidently alongside the bike while he prized it free.
It isn’t clear from the footage how he unlocked the bike, nor could the man’s face be seen to identify him.
She reported the case to the Avon and Somerset Police on April 11, but she ended up seeing her bike sooner than she expected.
Come Saturday and a ‘false alarm’ of a suspicious package in the area of Argyle Road, St Pauls, saw police cornered off the area and attracting masses of curious people out into the streets.
Out of the corner of her eye Leo says she saw her bike. A man who was different to the one she had seen in the CCTV was stood there talking with residents about the commotion.
She took a photo of the man and sent it to her friends who also live in the St Paul’s area and they were able to identify him not only as someone who regularly hangs around the St Paul’s and Stokes Croft area, but also his name and his address.
Emboldened by the police presence and her friend’s information, Leo approached the officers and explained the situation, showed them photos of her bike and gave them her report reference number.
All the while the man who was standing several feet away, began to walk away.
Leonor took this photo when she saw what claims to be her bike on the Saturday. The photo has been cropped to protect his identity.
Leo implored them urgently to stop him out of fear that she may not see the bike again. The officers agreed and the last Leo saw was them following him out of sight.
While Leo is frustrated and despondent over the loss, this has been intensified by the length of time its taken for the case to be investigated, as she herself carried out the investigation.
Avon and Somerset Police have said: “We are investigating the theft of a bike that reportedly happened in Stokes Croft, Bristol, on April 10.
“The victim saw an individual in possession of a bike, which matched the description of the stolen item, two days later.
“She informed officers in the area, but they were responding to an incident at the time which required a precautionary evacuation and therefore they needed to prioritise the potential public safety risk.
“We will always be guided by the threat, harm and risk posed when resourcing decisions need to be made.
“Enquiries into the theft are ongoing. The officer in the case attempted to contact the victim first by phone and then successfully managed to reach them by email on Monday 14 April to ascertain more details about the theft.
“As a courtesy they informed the victim they would next be on duty on Saturday 19 April due to their shift patterns that week and they have provided them with a further update over the Easter weekend.
“We recognise the impact that bike thefts can have on victims and CCTV enquiries are being carried out as we seek to identify the person responsible.
“Anyone with information that could assist our enquiries is asked to call 101 or contact us via our website quoting reference number 5225102974.”
Stolen bikes in Bristol is unfortunately common, with the city having the largest proportion of cyclists across the UK to have experienced bike theft (a staggering 82 per cent).
The police have numerous advisory suggestions to cyclists to keep their bike’s safe, here is a list of a handful of them:
- Invest in a good lock, even if it seems expensive. It could save you hundreds in the long run in replacing stolen parts or even an entire bike.
- Always use two different lock types. Use each lock to catch the wheels, frames and stands.
- Make sure all removable parts of the bike are taken with you.
- Where possible, lock to an official stand that’s firmly in the ground.
- Be security savvy. Bike thieves know their locks (and how to break them) and so should you. Consider electronic tagging.
- To register your bike, visit the Bike Register website.
All photos: Leonor Guimaraes
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