Online sleuthing reunites stolen bike and owner

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
Last updated: 1:46 p.m., Friday, January 29, 2010

ALBANY — By rights, Wesley Leubner’s mountain bike should have been gone for good.

Stolen when his Hudson Avenue apartment was burglarized 18 months ago, the $1,200 Cannondale F600 could have been anywhere by now.

“For six months he was scouring all the want ads,” said Detective James Miller, a police spokesman. The 24-year-old former college student’s exhaustive search of local bike shops yielded only similar disappointment.

But then — in further testament to the ubiquitousness of Craigslist — there it was this week, in all its mango orange glory, for sale at the deeply discounted price of $250.

Read the rest of the story.

This was in The Independent this weekend:

• James Daley: ‘Another cyclist raced up alongside me and started hurling abuse’

This came from the Albany Bicycle Coalition mailing list:

I am concerned about the bike thefts at the Honest Weight Co-Op and lack of good bike parking there for shoppers, memeber workers and paid employees. So why am I writing to ABC? I’m looking for support, ideas and info for how go about solving this problem.

I just returned to member work yeserday, 9/29, after a two week vacation and found no designated area in the back warehouse area for bike parking. People who work back there are asking that we not park bikes there and no one I spoke with had an alternative – Nate H. says he has no power. Rob at the front desk says talk to Cindi….

Claire Nolan suggests we ask that the bike rack be moved to one of the in front of the store parking spaces so I put that in the suggestion box. It’s a good idea but doesn’t address other issues. When I am in the store for an extended period I would be happier knowing my bike was safe and dry no matter what happens outside. I imagine this would be even more important for paid workers.

I plan to write a letter to the board addressing the issues of safety and sustainability and to find out who or what committee can make something happen. I would hope that others would write letters and make phone calls. And if anyone knows the chain of responsibility to make this more efficient and effective, please share.

– Rita Nolan

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 1:22 PM, Peter Herrig wrote:
> On a side note there are signs in the park about “Albany Bike Lock Program”
> “Visit any APD station for information” “Stop bicycle theft”. Are these
> just about registering your bike??

Alright, I have info!

I stopped a bicycle cop Downtown and he didn’t know anything, but he
told me to call Community Services. So I did.

It IS a bicycle registration program. It’s free.

You can pick up a trifold pamphlet with an index card at police
stations, City Hall, or community events where Community Services has
a tent. This gives you information about the program and allows you to
sign up.

What they do is take your personal info (name, address, phone) and
info about the bike, like serial number and make/model and any
distinguishing characteristics. They put this into their computer. You
get a little (1″) sticker that goes on your front fork. It’s blue and
reflective and has a picture of lock on it. It is supposed to be
nearly impossible to remove.

If your bike is stolen, the police know what your bike looks like,
know it has a sticker, and it will be easier to identify.

Any police officer can stop anyone on a bike with a sticker. The rider
is asked to verify that they own the bike, or that they have
permission to ride the bike.

Bob from Liberty On Bikes passed this along from Ward 9 Common Council rep Jim Sano:

Folks,

Be on the lookout we seem to be experiencing some bicycle thefts. I chased two people away on my block last Friday and we had a bike taken off the porch(locked) on my street last night. I would advise if it’s a valuable bike to lock it up and store it in your garage or back porch and please keep an eye out and report all suspicious activity.

Jim Sano