Bicycle theft - a true story

Part of my job is to monitor CCTV cameras at bus stops, and the city council has recently installed bike lockers and bike racks in an effort to increase the use of bicycle commuting. There are 6-7 signs around the station warning passengers that they are being monitored on CCTV, and as a whole the station is generally very safe, with only two incidents recorded since we started in 2005.

Anyway, one day, a young fellow is late for work, he arrives at the bus station and leans his bike against a bike rack, and is in such a hurry that he does not chain it up or tell the security guard that he left his bike unlocked there. It is covered by the camera system. A few hours later, a girl walks past once, notices it was unlocked, goes back and takes it.

We got a face shot of the thief and reported it to the police, she was caught but they were unable to recover the bike. She got a night in a police cell, even though she had a prior criminal record.

Moral of the story : Even if the bike thief is caught it is highly unlikely that your bike will be recovered. Always lock up, even in front of security cameras.

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2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle

Sounds just like the sort of daily event that occurs in downtown Dunedin, the Octagon there being a known hotspot for opportunistic bike theft.
But...what happened to the bike??

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I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like."
—Freddie Mercury, 'Bicycle Race'

The thief claimed it was stolen from her as well. Seriously!

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2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle

LOL. And kiwis will fly!?

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I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like."
—Freddie Mercury, 'Bicycle Race'

I was in Dunedin once and witnessed a pub crawl by Uni students on their bikes. There would've been approx 80 - 100 bikes.

And I was thinking that the woman was the partner of the owner, who came around to pick up the unlocked bike.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

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