String of high end bike thefts has mountain bikers on edge from Deep Cove to Pemberton

A string of high end bike thefts has mountain bikers on edge throughout the Sea to Sky and North Vancouver.

Even following recent arrests, Sgt. Peter Devries with North Vancouver RCMP is warning people to lock their bikes and be extra diligent.

“I like to ask people, ‘How much did you pay for your bike?’, and they’ll say $2,500 or something, said DeVries.

“Then I ask them to imagine that amount of money as a pile of 20’s, 50’s, and 100 dollar bills and ask if they would leave a stack of that amount of cash on a railing outside Starbucks while they popped in for an iced coffee. It’s really no different.”

#frontline officers in @NVanRCMP arrested a #biketheft suspect Mon. in #catespark: https://t.co/ODUMXgwFQl. He's alleged to have stolen the #mountainbike from #deepcove 1 hr. earlier. @bcprosecutionservice laid two charges against Matthew Hurren. Remember to lock your #mtb !! pic.twitter.com/0KxuYDtrR2

— North Vancouver RCMP (@nvanrcmp) May 29, 2019

Police believe there is a small group of individuals responsible for most of the thefts which stretch from Vancouver to Pemberton, according to people posting about their own experiences on social media.

“We know all the major players around here so whenever there’s an increase in the number of thefts, our radars go up,” says Devries.

Brazen and surprising thefts

Doug Chalmers had his bike stolen off the back of his pickup truck from outside his home in Deep Cove on May 23rd.

“I think it caught everyone off guard. Obviously I wouldn’t have left it there if I thought anybody was around on a residential street at that time in the morning,” he said. “Normally at that time of day it’s just kids walking to school.”

Chalmers said he was on his way out for a morning ride when he popped back into his house for a few seconds but when he came back the bike was already gone.

“I think I was one of the first people to get my bike stolen. Just a few days afterwards there was a bunch of bikes stolen, three or four bikes stolen in like a day, I think,” he says.

Doug Chalmers’ bike was stolen off the back of his pickup truck from outside his home in Deep Cove on May 23rd. (Courtesy Doug Chalmers)

Amélie Croteau says thieves came into her East Vancouver home while she was sleeping, in December. They took the keys to both her bike room and car and drove off with her two bikes in the middle of the night.

Then last week she had an expensive bike rack taken right off her vehicle.

On May 27th, North Vancouver RCMP arrested a suspect in Cates park caught with a bike that had been reported stolen by a Deep Cove woman. She said two bikes were taken off her vehicle even though they were secured with a lock.

The BC Prosecution Service approved two charges against 22-year-old Matthew James Hurren, of no fixed address with one count of Possession of Stolen Property and one count of theft Under $5000 in relation to the case.

Thefts span Sea to Sky region

Social media biking groups are chalk full of stolen bike posts right now – bike shops and individuals are posting about a rise in the thefts they have seen in as far north as Pemberton.

While North Vancouver police have identified an increase in bike thefts in certain areas of North Vancouver since the beginning of January, Squamish RCMP recently arrested two men from Penticton in possession of stolen vehicles and four bikes taken from North Vancouver’s Ravenwood neighbourhood.

“Squamish RCMP want to thank the public for all their assistance, these investigations are complex and as you can see have involved multiple jurisdictions and police agencies” says Cpl. Sascha Banks.

“We have been working to identify those involved in the recent rash of thefts and break and enters and believe these men are responsible for a large amount in this area as well as the interior. But we don’t believe they were working alone.”

Prolific Property Offenders Arrested in Brackendale https://t.co/tfRYBsvgJG

— Squamish RCMP (@SquamishRCMP) May 29, 2019

Devries says North Van RCMP work with police in Squamish and Whistler regularly to help recover stolen bikes but says thieves targeting bikes in those towns are usually coming from the interior with the intention to sell the stolen bikes elsewhere.

He compares that to the kinds of thefts in North Vancouver and says those are usually perpetrated by individuals who deal with addictions or have a history of theft and live locally.

Lock, Layer, Label

Police point out experienced thieves are proficient at defeating many security devices but a lot of thefts are occuring when riders leave their bikes unlocked and unattended.

“They’re riding to coffee shops, they have their bikes outside in their carports, they have them in the backs of their pickups after heading up for trail ride,” says Devries.

He says because thieves can quickly dismantle bikes and reassemble them using different parts it can be near impossible to recover bikes and components that aren’t labeled.

Squamish resident Jarrett Zavitts suggests insuring your high end bikes as he did, which made for an easy recovery after he and his wife had theirs stolen from their garage last year.

“Get home insurance, even if you;re a renter … we actually had a pretty easy claim,” he says. “Sometimes it’s super expensive but if you can find a good insurer it’s usually worth it.”