A RadRunner electric bike stolen and recovered in Kamloops.

Image Credit: Kevin Turtle

Kevin Turtle had his RadRunner electric bike, worth almost $3,000, stolen last month, a scenario that appears to be common in Kamloops, but this story has a different ending.

He was able to recover his bike with help from a social media group and local RCMP. 

"I typically bring my bike into my workplace building for safekeeping, but there was an incident that day," Turtle recalled. "I was momentarily distracted and my bike was stolen in minutes. Police were called and attended a couple of hours of later. I posted the stolen bike on social media until it felt like half the city was looking for my bike."

Turtle says there were multiple sightings reported to the police and it was a tip that led him to a halfway house in Valleyview that pointed him in the right direction. With the help of Lin Moroz, a coordinator for a stolen bike recovery group, Turtle's bike was recovered.

"Police said they checked in Valleyview and viewed the video and found nothing," Turtle said. "Two days later I get a call from Lin stating she's across the street from the halfway house in Valleyview and my bike is being stripped of parts in broad daylight. When I got there, police were there and people were actively stripping bikes. My bike was recovered, damaged and missing parts. No arrests were made."

Lin Moroz has been helping people recover bicycles for years using a page called Stolen Bikes Kamloops. She says the group has helpful members from bike riders, community services and the RCMP.

She is aware of almost 60 bikes being stolen in Kamloops this year and she has helped owners recover about half of those. She says most of the bikes are stolen by the marginalized population either for transportation or to sell for a quick profit, while sometimes there are people who steal expensive bikes to resell in other cities. The recovered bikes she sees can be worth $800 to $7,000.

“It is really at street level,” she said. “A lot of bikes are stolen from motels and hotels. Generally we see the bikes on the street with a rider. The more expensive the stolen bike is, the more obvious the rider doesn’t match it. It is very common for bicycle locks to be broken or removed with grinders and garages to be broken into.”

Moroz says prevention is the most important tool for bike owners to have.

“Bikes are easy targets because they are everywhere,” Moroz said. “There are preventative measures cyclists can take. Register your bike on Bike Index before it is stolen and keep your bike locked in your home at night. There are bicycle-friendly hotels that allow customers to bring their bikes in at night. Join the page, alert RCMP and put your information on social media."

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2021