The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help identifying an alleged bike thief who, on Wednesday, shoplifted bolt cutters to steal a boy’s e-bike.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help identifying an alleged bike thief who, on Wednesday, shoplifted bolt cutters to steal a boy’s e-bike.
Install a bike alarm inside the seat tube. They're hard to defeat without tools. Mine alternately flashes bright blue and red light strips epoxied to the frame. In California, that's a guaranteed police stop (blue lights are only allowed on law enforcement vehicles), plus it makes everyone look at the thief. There's also a relay that shorts out the motor, making it a bitch to pedal. If that and the 120 dB alarm doesn't stop them, 30 seconds later two metal strips under the seat fabric get powered from a 55 kV mosquito zapper circuit.
The bike alarm is triggered by motion. It's a standard off-the-shelf seat tube bike alarm, armed/disarmed by a fob. My modification was to beef up the output power to operate the flashing lights, motor shorting relay, sonalert, and the time-delayed electric theft deterrent. I can't be shocked unless I'm riding around for 30 seconds with lights flashing, alarm blasting, and the motor acting as a regenerative brake. That's why there's a time delay.
There's also an Airtag in the seat, but I'd rather deter the thief than have to track down the bike.
That's the thing... Even a motorcycle is prone to physical theft, regardless of the safety measures. A couple strong people can lift even bigger bikes.
While the lack of functionality will deter a would be theif, the rest of the parts would probably still fetch a handsome sum.
Mine needs a key to start but most importantly: Get a quality ulock and use it correctly. Consider a cut resistant chain, alarm, and tracker as well especially if you have a pricey ride.
No chain is sufficient if a thief is set on stealing something. Chains and locks only stop opportunistic theft. You can cut a u lock in 30 seconds with a battery operated angle grinder that fits in a small backpack. EG this 30s video https://youtu.be/RI9SEThrJMY
That low-res picture of the suspect is why Walmart has such a problem with theft. Meanwhile, Sam's Club has 4k cameras on either side of the entrance and the exit. Same parent company.
Walmart doesn't actually care much about theft. It's a small percentage of their revenue, despite what they and the media want you to think. An industry lobbying group has recently said shrink is up to 2-3% last year, up from 0.7-1% pre-pandemic. Being a lobbying group, I'm sure those numbers are inflated to further their agenda. Do we really think that an extra 1% shrink is something Walmart is actually going to make massive changes over? No, they'd clearly rather install self checkouts that make it easier to steal so they can fire cashiers instead.
Those cameras are actually to monitor for Union activity.
Retail stores are likely studying the effect that shoplifting has on other customers though. When it’s brazen, it can make people fearful for their own safety, and even less likely to shop at the same place.
I noticed they now lock up boltcutters in a storage box at many hardware stores, because people had been grabbing them out of the tool aisle and using them to cut other security locks so they could shoplift other higher value items like high-end power tools. If you have a legit need to buy bolt cutters, you have to get a clerk to take them out for you, and they immediately walk you to the register and make sure you leave after purchase.
I hope that kid gets locked up. That bike is illegal! Illegal I tell you! The guy just wanted to get it off the streets by probably getting drunk first.