Home > News

B.C. police nab Lower Mainland bike thief in late November after a cold, wet flight from justice

If there's one thing about cycling in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia that's strikingly clear, it's this: where bike theft is concerned, people take it very, very seriously on the west coast—but so do the thieves themselves.

The arrested bike thief tried to evade capture by diving into the cold waters of Steveston Harbour in Richmond, B.C. He was found suffering from hypothermia. (Image: Google Maps)
The arrested bike thief tried to evade capture by diving into the cold waters of Steveston Harbour in Richmond, B.C. He was found suffering from hypothermia. (Image: Google Maps)

If there’s one thing about cycling in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia that’s strikingly clear, it’s this: where bike theft is concerned, people take it very, very seriously on the west coast—but so do the thieves themselves.

Late last month, RCMP in Richmond, B.C. noted a rather chilling example of that.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 27, the Province reports, Mounties were called to an apartment complex in the area to respond to an apparent theft in progress. A resident, reports said, had spotted an individual in the process of stealing his bike, then confronted him. Cornered, the thief took off on foot, running in the direction of Steveston Village near Steveston Harbour.

When he got there, police said, he leaped into the chilly, late-November waters of the harbour, an apparent—and desperate—attempt to evade capture.

After searching the waters with the aid of police dogs, officers found and arrested the bike thief, who was in apparently rough condition after his aquatic flight from justice. “When the suspect was located and arrested,” said Cpl. Dennis Hwang of the Richmond RCMP, speaking with the Province, ” he was hiding in a washroom and suffering from signs of hypothermia. The waters were also obviously bone chilling.”

His bad condition, though—something to which officers and emergency personnel promptly attended—wasn’t the only thing police found near Steveston Harbour. From all appearances, an accomplished bike thief’s evidently successful efforts had been foiled. “A subsequent search of the surrounding area,” Hwang added, “located a fraudulently obtained rental truck loaded with several stolen bicycles.” The thief, a 39-year old local man, was known to police, reports said. His ill-begotten wares recovered, police then turned their attention to reuniting the bikes and their respective riders.

“Several of the bicycles we recovered were marked for identification,” Hwang said, “and we are currently working to return them to their rightful owners.”