City
Police Seize More Bicycles
Police seized 700 more bicycles in three searches conducted today related to the recent "Igor Kenk" theft ring investigation. The searches, including this one pictured near College and Lansdowne, have netted over 3,200 bicycles so far.
Of the thousands of bicycles already seized and on display, only 250 have been claimed by their rightful owners, and only three more days remain to claim the two-wheelers.
The bikes have been available at two neighbouring warehouses, which are open to the public every day from noon to 8pm. They are located at 35 Strachan Ave. and 30 Ordnance St. until Thursday. Be sure to bring proof of bike ownership; any unclaimed bikes will become property of the court, so it's worth taking a look before it's too late.
There isn't much I can add to Roger's great posts so far. I'm still flabbergasted that one (or two) people can have this many stolen bikes still on hand, and am glad to see that the Toronto Police are (finally) seeing this through, including a jackpot just down the street from me.
I've heard a lot of commentary and debate on this subject, and I tend to agree with the sentiment that bikes are one of the most personal things to steal from somebody. Everybody has an attachment to their bike, and everybody needs their bike in some way. In some cases it is the primary mode of transportation and for others it may be a recreational pursuit, but we all need and love our bikes.
I have been very fortunate to never have my bike stolen, but I've also been quite insistent with landlords about finding an indoor spot I can park my bike and I try to avoid having to lock it up outdoors. It must feel like a real kick in the gut to return to a bike post and see it empty. Although it remains to be seen if this crackdown will help increase bicycle safety in Toronto, thieves must be taking notice.
Photos by and hat tip to Natalie Stephenson.
Discussion
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Goodness, what were the police doing when all of these bikes were being stolen?
Sitting at the bottom of hills ticketing drivers who were going 10K over the speed limit.
@glsmb, what were they doing? They were telling the victims "Go to Igor's, he's probably got your bike."
No joke.
They were busy policing the Pusateri's parking lot.
What about the house on Annette that jammed with bikes?
i think theres enough stolen bikes for everyone in Toronto that doesn't have a bike... I've had 3 bikes stolen from me when I was growing up... I just got myself a hot little bmx from the ttc/police auctions... can't wait to see what happens to the unclaimed bikes...
any suggestions?
I suggest renting them out for free... like books at the library :D
The bicycle registration on the Toronto police web site includes a request for telephone and/or e-mail. Don't the police check the registration against the stolen bikes to see if they match first?
This is so effing depressing.
I went down to the police garages to see if my bike that was stolen 4-5 years ago was there. to their credit, the cops have organized all of the bikes alphabetically or in an unknown pile for those that have been painted over.
I didn't find my bike but I came soooooooo close. there were at least 6-7 bikes that looked like mine but upon closer inspection and cross-referencing with my photos, I had to exclude them.
but now I have to go back down and break my heart again. some people would just let go but I went through a lot on this bike, including getting hit by a car and having to rebuild it and myself at the same time. can't shake those memories.
I'll look one more time before I move on.
DudeTO, I know exactly the place you're talking about, corner annette and pacific. He keeps it outdoors so I'm guessing he's not involved, just a little crazy.
Has anyone seen the bike guy on Queen West and Triller? I wonder if it's like the guy on Annette... just crazy? He is nice, and he fixed my bike and it is great, but I just wonder.
Use the unclaimed bikes to revive Bike Share!
Wasn't Bike Share's woe that lack of funds to maintain and repair bikes, not especially a shortage OF bikes?
I am killing myself I never took any pictures of the bike, or me and the bike.
I can't prove it's mine even if I do find it, so I think I'm just going to avoid the grief and watchout for the police auction :P.
They should accept affidavits or something.
Just think - this is JUST the bikes stolen from downtown Toronto. What about the rest of Toronto? What about the rest of Ontario? How many other theft operations like this are running?
It would be a shame if all these bikes are merely auctioned off on the Police ebay site. Or worse... if it is not proven that they are stolen does Igor keep them?
This isn't mentioned in the Star story you've linked, but the police also found a Dole Bananas box full of almost eight pounds of marijuana in the Dufferin garage last night.
Of course I'm biased because I'm in that picture and wrote about it for my own employer:
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/07/29/6295421-sun.html
GL smb.: They do. Do a Google News search for the keywords, and articles will come up saying so. There should be a lot more red tape that way, though.
@Brett Clarkson
Any word on what the procedure is for claiming stolen bud? Do I need a serial number? ;)
"The bicycle registration on the Toronto police web site includes a request for telephone and/or e-mail. Don't the police check the registration against the stolen bikes to see if they match first?"
appearantly, they do. One of the previous newspaper articles mentioned that they have separated all of the registered bikes and are getting in touch with owners. The problem is, well, barely anyone has registered their bikes with the police for some inexplicable reason.
My $70 piece of crap is registered with the police :D