Watch: Thief tries to steal bike outside of police station, gets arrested
Police officers in Gladstone, Oregon didn't have to go far to catch a bike thief red-handed in the act over the holidays
A thief in Gladstone, Oregon attempted to steal a bike locked in front of the local police station on Dec. 27. The only issue was a well-placed surveillance camera caught his actions and officers in the station quickly apprehended the would-be thief.
“People stealing bikes isn’t rare; it’s just where he did it at this time kind of caught everyone off guard, kind of made us chuckle a little bit, you know,” Carl Bell of the Gladstone Police Department said to ABC News.
Surveillance footage from in front of the Gladstone Police Department clearly captured the events as they unfolded.
A man, identified as Adam Valle, is seen approaching a locked bicycle outside the station with bolt cutters. As he attempts to cut the lock and free the bicycle, police officer Matt Okerman walks out of the station to confront the thief with a taser.
The thief is caught off guard and the officer places a hand on the suspect’s chest to stop him. The officer uses a taser to subdue the potential thief and with the help of another officer puts him in handcuffs.
“It’s dumb, you know. I have not actually seen something that blatant because the officers were inside watching on video camera. The camera that you see is actually in our office,” added Bell.
