More than 700 bikes reported stolen in Ottawa so far this year

More than 1,000 bicycles are stolen in Ottawa each year and one Ottawa man knows just how quickly it can happen, after he left his garage door open.

"This guy saw the opportunity and made the switch," said Orléans resident Will Wacklin.

Wacklin said he came outside last Tuesday morning to find an unfamiliar bike leaning against his townhouse.

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He quickly realized someone had stolen his $1,000 bike, leaving an older one in its place.

"It's also a Norco, but older and not good, so he definitely won the trade for sure," Wacklin said.

So far this year, more than 700 bikes have been reported stolen across the city. There were 1,320 reported bike thefts in all of last year. But that only includes what's been reported to police.

"In general, the reporting appears to have gone down. It's unclear at this point whether or not that's due to enforcement efforts or if it's people who aren't reporting that their bike is stolen," said Const. Adam Hector with Ottawa Police Service. "In order for us to adequately respond to these bike thefts we need to be aware of them."

Police say the app 529 Garage, which allows people to register their bike for free, is a key tool when it comes to finding stolen bikes and returning them to their owners.

Hector says more than 200 bikes have been recovered so far this year.

"That app has been extremely useful. Certainly, the more information we have, the easier it is for us to go and respond to that and hopefully recover the bike," said Hector.

Wacklin says he didn't report the theft, but he did post it to the Facebook group Stolen Bikes Ottawa.

He's hoping someone may recognize it so he can swap it back.

"It's heartbreaking. I mean, it's more shocking but he did give me his bike so it's not all bad."

When it comes to preventing theft, police say it's common for criminals to cut through locks, so using more than one or keeping your bike inside is recommended.

"We have seen that people have started using tools such as angle grinders, battery angle grinders, and they're breaking through these locks," Hector said.

"That extra lock goes a long way to at least slow down people and if they're going to create a ruckus trying to take your bike, someone's going to take notice."

Between 2016 and 2021, more than 5,000 bikes were stolen in Ottawa, worth an estimated value of $3.3 million.