A bike thief in North Vancouver got quite the surprise, police say, as RCMP arrested him in possession of a stolen bait bike boarding a bus leaving the North Shore.
The recent alleged theft occurred on May 10, 2017 at approximately 3:00 pm when a 40 year-old male stole a locked bait bike by cutting its lock. The bike had intentionally been left by police at a commercial center in North Vancouver. Strike Force officers were alerted by the bait bike alarm being activated. Officers tracked the thief to the Phibbs bus exchange on Oxford Street, North Vancouver. After being observed loading the stolen bike onto the front of a bus the bike thief was taken off the bus and into custody without incident.
Vancouver resident, Casimir Lepinski, who is well known to police, is charged with theft. The accused was released with conditions and will appear again in North Vancouver court on May 25, 2017.
North Vancouver RCMP considers bike thefts to be a serious criminal offence. Using bait bikes serves two purposes,
said Cpl. Richard De Jong of the North Vancouver RCMP. Firstly, to catch thieves in the act, and secondly, to also send out a strong message to all would-be thieves that the next bike they are thinking of stealing may just belong to the police!
Go the BC.RCMP.CA website to learn how to protect your bike from theft.
