One of our readers wrote in to report that two of his bikes were stolen on Sunday, July 4 from his off-street shared balcony at an apartment complex located at Queen Anne Ave N and Highland Drive. Though the balcony is not open to the public, Seàn says it is “technically publicly accessible” as the hallway doors don’t lock, leading him to believe that the place was cased.
He wrote:
One of these is a dangerous, experimental, engine-powered bicycle I was working on. Due to the swiftness of execution and the weight of the bikes, it was possibly multiple people with a truck or something. Worryingly, they probably cased the place (I went to the grocery store for less than 10 minutes and returned to their absence).
Suffice it to say, if someone tried riding the motorized bike they’re in for a potentially lethal shock since the throttle cable is stuck and I was working on the brakes. There’s also no way in the world another similar bike exists, since it’s a home-brew (and really looks it!) contraption.
Seàn says he didn’t want to bother police on the 4th, “since they have bigger priorities than less than 2k worth of burglary on this explosive holiday.” He did call yesterday, however, and was told that it would be “quite a while” before an officer could stop by and take a report.
In the meantime, he thought he’d see if anyone in the neighborhood had any information on one or both of the bikes.
This is a ~$1,200 loss for me, and my main mode of transportation. I fear in the meantime, my bikes will be long gone. The gas powered one, precious to me (and possibly useless to anyone else in that condition) might have been ditched in the bushes somewhere and could be hauled off as trash by a passerby.
Please comment below if you have any more information.
Hopefully this type of thing doesn’t become more common in this neighborhood. My bikes haven’t been locked up in over 3 years, and I’ve never had a problem until now.