An Ottawa man has posted some video on YouTube, hoping to catch the guy who stole his girlfriend's bike and almost got his. The video, from surveillance footage, shows the man calmly cutting through the bike lock in broad daylight and making off with both bikes.
Cycling is a passion for Todd Snelgrove; one he wanted to share with his girlfriend when he bought a bike for her a little while ago.
“It was brand new, gunmetal gray,” says Snelgrove, “Scott Sportster Moutain bike.”
April 9th, they rode to a movie in Old Ottawa South, locking their bikes at a stand on Bank Street.
A camera from a nearby pub captures what happens shortly after that, all edited by Snelgrove for optimal effect. There's the “thief” who walk up with his own bike, and pulls out a pair of bolt cutters.
“From a distance, it looks like he's pulling out a lock to lock his own bike,” says Snelgrove, “and he rides away on his bike then stashed that across the street.”
Minutes later, he comes back on foot and makes off with Snelgrove’s girlfriend's bike. Multiple people walk by. In fact, at one point, even Snelgrove walks by and doesn't notice the bike missing.
“It's frustrating to see how many people walked by the event basically as it was happening, including myself.”
The only reason Snelgrove still has his bike is because of a special European lock that immobilizes the back tire. The thief tried to steal it, dragged it across the street before ditching it in a parking lot.
Bike theft is nothing new, but as interest in cycling increases and more high end bikes hit the street so do more thieves.
Cycling specialist Rodd Heino works at the Cyclery on Bank Street, “From what I understand, a lot of the thieves that are professional come from Montreal or elsewhere in vans and fill up the van with stolen bikes and drive back to their cities.”
In fact, Heino has been the victim of a bike thief this past January. He says the best line of defense is a good lock.
“You have to get a good quality U-lock, cable locks don't protect your bike,” says Heino, “They can be cut as quickly as you can close a bolt cutter.”
Police say in addition to that, make sure you report your stolen bike to them.
“Take a picture of the bicycle, take a picture of the serial number,” says Cst. Chuck Benoit with the Ottawa Police, “and do call police as soon as the incident occurs.”
Todd Snelgrove says he's done all that to no avail; that's why he's turned to YouTube and his footage in the hope that someone might know the guy who stole his bike.
“Boy, it sure would be good to get my girlfriend’s bike back,” he says, “but I don't have much hope of that.”
