It’s not every day a bike thief is caught in the act.
On camera, anyway.
Allison writes to report that her classic mixte bike was stolen sometime around 3 am on Thursday, October 2nd from an apartment building on the 4200 block of Artesia Blvd in Torrance.
The bike is described as having a rusty blue ladies steel frame with front and rear fenders; the rear fender is attached with a zip tie at the bottom bracket.
The 3-speed Sturmey Archer AW hub is dated 1965, while the tires are brand new Schwalbs. Front brakes are original with orange Kool Stop pads; back brakes are Tektro with black pads.
Cables are threaded through a metal headlight attachment on the front tube. The front brake cable is original white; rear brake and shifter cables are black. The rear brake cable is installed upside down for this model, and loops between the down-tube and seat post as shown.
The serial number is 2339655, and can be found on back of seat post. A Zefal HPx1 frame pump was attached to the bike and is also missing.
The thief was caught by security camera; a still from the video shows a dark haired man with a long ponytail.
Anyone having information on the identity of this man or whereabouts of the bicycle is urged to contact the Torrance Police department at 310/328-3456, reference Case ID 1400-60347. Then call Allison at 818/850-2710.
She reports that two other bikes were stolen from her apartment complex in just the last few weeks.
Let’s hope someone can identify this guy and help put a bike thief behind bars where he belongs. And let’s get Allison her bike back.
That bike is in a dangerous condition with a poorly fixed and potentially rotating rear mudguard. A metal mudguard will rarely fold-up like a plastic one and jam the wheel, but can roll under the wheel creating the effect of ski-ing on a single ski. Most cyclists being unaccustomed to ski-ing will crash shortly afterwards.
Perhaps the new user will experince such an event?