The times., 1899-12-28
THE THEFTS OF BICYCLES
How the Thieves Secure Possession
of Valuable Wheels.
The Methods of a Regularly Organ
lied Gang of Robbers Exposed by
of the City and Others RebuiIt-One
Good Effect of the Cold weather.

According to the reports at Police
/ Headquarters the bicycle thieves who have
! been carrying on extensive operations for
months past and particularly during the
warm weather period, have to a very great
extent ceased their operations. As
a result the complaints of bicycle thefts
which until recently have been numerous
! are now reduced almost to a minimum,
and the prospects are that as long as the
cold weather continues the present con-
dition of affairs will exist
The diminutlon in the number of COM
plants, or rather the fact that a decrease
! in the number of thefts is apparent is at
! tributable, say the police, directly to the
| weather conditions. The police claim that
cold weather is in more than one way re-
sponsible for the scarcity of bicycle thefts.
! Detective Muller of headquarters. whose
especial duty it is to look out for and re-
! cover lost or stolen bicycles, and arrest
all such thieves, stated yesterday that the
most annoying thief which the police had
to deal with was the sneak who made
| business of stealing bicycles.
|
where the bicycle thief is going to turn
| up. He will steal a bicycle in one por-
| ton Of the city in the morning. and before
| the sun sets will have made of with one
and sometimes more from other sections.
| Almost invariably the thief leaves no clew
and is only captured when, after weeks
and sometimes months, he gains enough
| temerity to offer his III gotten gain for
! sale
Even then it is often the case that the
! original stolen bicycle is so disigured that
| il is almost an impossibility to identify it.
! The recent arrest and conviction OF Iegu-
! larly organized gang Of bicycle thieves
! and the recovery from them Of d number of
/ bicycles exemplifed the difficulty met by
/ the detectives in establishing the owner
1 ship Of such recovered property.
! When arraigned in court three of the
! five thieves. all of whom were cO,Ored, and
Under age. admitted their guilt and stated
/ that they had stolen numberiess wheels.
/ They also stated that after a bicycle was
/ stolen parts OF ID were placed in the frame
! of another stolen wheel. the number cut
! out the frame painted another color and
/ numberless other things calculated to de-
| feat iden, ifcation resorted to-
The result was that several recovered
! bicycles were never Identified. Many per-
| sons who had been robbed OF bicycles could
| identify wheels, tires, saddles. frames, or
! other parts Of the recovered property, but
! few could identify enough parts to make
! complete bicycle According to the iden-
| tiiication Of different parts by different
! owners one bicycle contained parts Of six
| bicycles That indicated that an cXten-
sive business in stealing and disposing Of
| bicycles had been carried on before the
work of the gang was interrupted by the
| police.
As a rule the bicycle thief watches the
! bicycle he intends stealing for days before
/ he finally makes off with it. He notes the
| time the owner of the bicycle arrives at
! his Office or other place where he is ac-
Customed to stop. and reckons the time the
owner remains away from his silent steed
| These points are all carefully considered,
and the result il that a rider who has fire.
| quenuy left his bicycle at a certain place
/ for a number Of days returns for il finally
10 find that it has been stolen.
In many instances ii is reported by per
| sons who have been robbed that they had
| been away from their bicycle only few
moments but yet in that short space OF
| time it was stolen. That would indicate
| how carefully the bicycle thief works. He
has watched the wheel for several days
/ and noted the owner remained away from il
/ on the various occasions and he is not
| willing to take chances Of being caught so
| he makes off with the bicycle as soon as
/ the pack or the owner Is turned
While the stealing of bicycles has been
very great, it is not of quite the proper
! tions that the reports would indicate. Ere
| quently an owner reports his bicycle stolen
! when. as a matter OF fact, 1t has simply
been borrowed temporarily by some person
unknown Such reports are generally most
numerous during Saturday and Sunday of
| each week
A person who cannot afford the luxury
of a bicycle and who Graves a days sport
on one makes off with another's prop
erty. and after using it for day or two
finally abandons it. The result is that dur
I ing Sunday night and Monday the police
Pick up any number of abandoned bicycles
which of course. are later turned over to
| the proper owners upon application.
Often it is necessary to notify q person
| who has complained Of theft that his BIZ
cycle has been recovered.
As has been said, at the present time
! there is a conspicuous absence OF bicycle
| therts During the week ending Saturday
| last while the weather was mild, sixteen
| bicycles were reported stolen and OF that
| number seven We're recovered in various
Ways Since sunday only four thefts have
been reported and of that number two
bicycles have been recovered.
As Detective Muller puts it, the cold
weather is responsible for the decrease.
| His explanation Is that in the first place
few people ride in cold weather thus re-
duciug the chances Of theft Secondly, he
| says that a thief finds ii hard to dispose
! of a stolen wheel during cold weather,
and thirdly even if he could after an
| effort succeed in finding a purchaser at
a sacrifice. he does not care to inconve-
| nieuce himself to the extent necessary to
| ccusummate a theft for only small gain.
There are numerous other reasons why
the number of thefts has decreased and
perhap the one not mentioned by De-
| tctiye Muller is that the police have made
| such a vigorous crusade against the thieves
! that they have been forced to desist.
| Muller insists that as long as bicycles are
manufactured and ridden they viii be
stolen and he asserts that the only time
the police have a rest partial Of course,
from the annoyance given them by the
! thieves is when the cold weather sets in.
i Accused of Grand Larceny.
About midnight last night Policeman
Baum of the Fourth precinct station. cap
! tured David Kilman fiffy-fve years Of age