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Hello All, My name is John (Rusty) Redican, I’m a fellow cyclist and LAPD Officer. This reminder is not an official LAPD news blast, but me as a fellow cyclist and community member arming you with a little information to keep you and your property safe. Due to another salient event, where a fellow cyclist had his bicycles stolen out of his garage.

I need to advise you all about a ring of high end bicycle thieves that we (LAPD West LA Division) arrested a couple years back, who may or may not be at it again. That arrest was only made possible due to cooperation between the cycling community and the police. First off, be very cautious on what you post on social media, i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Strava and similar forms of tracking and communication we all use for our shared love of cycling.

A few years back, this ring of bike thieves, based out of south Los Angeles, were responsible for millions of dollars of bicycle thefts, from San Diego County to Ventura County. They would follow cyclists home from group rides, scour FaceBook and other social media for intel on cyclists and their homes, so they could conduct surveillance on you and break into your garage or storage areas to steal your bicycles. They would do this during the day mostly when no one was home, but also at night while you slept. At times they would cause damage to the garage, but most times they were very surreptitious about it and the only evidence left, was the absence of your property. The majority of the bikes they targeted were well worth (as you all know) the chance for them to get caught by the home owner. At the time, they used a very clean and newer model silver, 4 door Audi sedan with bike racks on it. The suspects in the cases I’m referring too were all male hispanics in their mid to lat 20’s - early thirties, between 5’6” and 5’9”, 175 lbs to 220 lbs, not climbers. Again, I’m not saying this is definitely them, but the MO used in the theft of bikes from one of our fellow cyclists in Torrence, last week is very similar.

So be advised and be cautious of what you put on social media, NEVER have the starting point to your ride be your residence, and be cautious on who you share your photos and information with. Also, you don’t have to be paranoid, but be aware of your surroundings and if you notice a vehicle following you, or the same vehicle in 3 different locations, that may be a clue, and take not of the lic plate number, or any other distinguishing characteristics of the vehicle and occupant(s). Criminals are not dumb, and have evolved with the technology, so a little operational security will help you keep your property that you love, and work hard to obtain. If you see anything suspicious please be a good witness, don’t physically get involved, as you never know what these criminals are armed with, but immediately call your local police department.

Anyway, I put this info out not to alarm, but to inform, for-warned is for-armed. Please share with your cycling teams and groups, or any cycling friends who may benefit from this information.

These are the suspects from 2012. This photo is from CBS Los Angeles. They were apparently seen today in Corona at Corona High checking out the mountain bike teams bikes and asking questions... They are now driving a black newer model Honda Accord....FYI...
Ride Safe,
Rusty Redican

rms13

Great info, thanks. FYI Strava has an option to hide your locations in privacy settings. You can set addresses such as your home, work etc as private so it won't show up as an exact starting/end on Strava.

CommuteCommando

Strava has an option to not display route information for a radius around your home. Thieves can work around this if they know your last name and you are a homeowner. They can go on the county website and look up ownership information, and they only need to know the general vicinity (Parcel map #). I do not have my real last name on my Strava account. I'm guessing that homeowners are more likely to own higher value bikes.

hamster

Count me as skeptical. Expensive bikes are rarely worth as much as their MSRPs, even brand new. Resale value plummets from there, carbon warranty is usually non-transferrable, buyers ask too many questions, etc. Stolen high-end bikes would be hard to move and thieves would probably need to part them out, throw out frames (the most expensive part), and ebay the parts. These days you can get a brand new Ultegra Di2 groupset for $1200, so used parts (unless they specifically go for something extra exclusive like Campy EPS groups and Zipp wheels) aren't worth much either.

I'm not saying that high end bikes are never stolen, but I don't see the thieves scouring through social media, casing houses, and breaking an entering for a chance of a $500 profit per bike.

Mike F

High-End Bicycles Targeted in Countywide Crime Series | NBC 7 San Diego

anotherbrian

Last year (?) there was a ring of thieves in the SF Bay Area who were caught with storage units full of stolen bikes. Very very high end to crap. They made enough money (even if it was a fraction of MSRP) to keep doing it until they were caught.

Here is the thread from a long time ago in this forum about (I assume) the Audi guys:

https://www.bikeforums.net/southern-c...deo-theft.html

SHBR

In the secondhand market that would be considered huge profit. Enough that you could hire some thugs to do your bidding for you. Provide them with a car and addresses, and send them on their way. Start looking at the bigger picture and it is probably connected to many other kinds of theft.

Street Thief (2006) - IMDb

TrojanHorse

hamster - there was a ring busted in 2013 that was stealing expensive bikes and delivering them to a shop in down town LA for resale

Tour de theft targets high-end racing bikes - Los Angeles Times

Frankly, I am not surprised these days at what crooks will take to make a quick buck. It's probably a lot safer than boosting a TV - you can drive all over town with 4 bikes on your car and nobody will blink.

rms13

As someone who is trying to sell my 2 year old $4k msrp bike I agree that resale is not great but even at $500 per bike when you paid $0 for it that's a good profit. And let's face it , bike thieves rarely have to spend more then 30 seconds of their time stealing bikes so if it's an organized crime ring it could be profitable.

But a more important question to OP that I would like answered is when will 3 foot law be enforced? I talked to a cop a few weeks ago that told me flat out they don't enforce it because it's pretty much impossible to prove according to him. Keeping jerks in my neighborhood from buzzing me at 40 mph in a 25mph zone in their mercedes in 18 inches away from me on my bike is more of a concern then someone following me home and steeling my bike

trailangel

Yep. I don't think drivers are aware of this new law. I would at least like to know that the police are pulling people over and giving them a warning. Or how about one of those police sting operations where a plain clothes cop rides a bike on a narrow street and a drivers buzzes too close and they are pulled over and ticketed.. that might get the word out.
I appreciate the original post as well. I've had 3 bikes stolen over the years, and the best and most expensive one wasn't locked. It was somebody that saw me take it into a 7 ft enclosed patio. The other 2 were locked, one cable and one chain... cut. Gives you a chance to buy new and improved bike, but it does get to you as they are part of your soul.

Pamestique 

If you saw an ad for your dream bike, whatever it would be but its always been out of reach because of a 10,000+ price tag, wouldn't you be interested in that same bike for sale for $1500? Generally sophisticated cyclist know the value of such bikes but "regular" people don't... not saying anyone would knowingly buy stolen goods but trust me it happens. And for the thieves? $1500, heck $500 is alot of money...what do they care its a fraction of the bike's value?

I remember when these guys were caught last time. No doubt there out of jail and doing it again. On another thread where someone just had 3 high end bikes stolen I recommended even if bikes are in a locked garage to use security. All of my bikes are chained up (and I mean real chains not bike locks) and locked to pipes and structure beams. A pain every time I want to ride but after having a bike stolen myself, it's worth the hassle.

Pamestique 

Let's try and keep the thread on topic... response to this and any followup will move this thread to A & S or P & R... The theft issue is an important topic for So Cal riders...

CliffordK

Some thieves are smart and sophisticated.
Some are not.

Move a bike more than 100 miles from where it was stolen and the chance of getting caught would be very low.

Swap around components and the bikes become less recognizable.

I have tried to look up serial numbers on stolen bike registries. I don't know how comprehensive the lists are. But, surely the thieves also know that if it isn't registered, then the likelihood of getting caught decreases significantly. And doing a general search without serial numbers is painful at best.

Rick@OCRR

Makes me worried about having "My Bikes" listed in my bikeforums.net avatar. When the theives see the bikes I have and know that I live in Whittier . . .

It could make me a potential vic. Yikes!

Rick / OCRR

LGHT

I agree it's a loosing battle. I watched a documentary about bike thieves and how the increasing value of race bikes has increased the interest in thieves. If a serial number is registered they part out the bike and just sell the frame in another country via ebay. The thieves basically had a main guy in Europe they would ship all the frames to and he would sell them for TOP dollar and would get a piece of the profit. Since he had so many frames and good prices know one worried about the frames being stolen and no one ever bothered checking the US registry. Plus if they are following you home it really doesn't matter what you do or don't post on strava or facebook. If they know where you live and know it's in a garage it's just a matter of time before they try and steal it.

rms13

Not getting killed by one of the 5.8 million cars on the road in LA is also an important topic to most of us in SoCal and 3 foot law is a state wide law. ...but point taken

Pamestique 

Hadn't thought of it but makes sense... I am removing my bikes from the "equation". Thanks for bringing that up!

CliffordK

I'm just hoping people see my avatar and decide that that is a mismatched piece of trash... Not worth bothering with.

It is also one-of-a-kind, which would be impossible to fence locally, and it would be hard to part it out for more than $50.

rms13

1. I also recommend not using your real name on strava. I don't and none of my friends do. Sure it's harder for people in your bike club etc to find you on strava but also harder to cross reference your name with your address to find out where you live

2. On the point of smart/dumb thieves. The smart ones know that they can make more money parting out the bikes and be much less likely to get caught. Pretty hard to prove that the used Dura Ace group on ebay came off your bike. I read a story by a poster hear that bought a CAAD 10 frame for $50 that had been repainted from someone who traded it for a case of beer. I'm sure the bike was stolen and thieves sold all the parts and didn't even care about the frame since that is the only thing to trace it to the owner and repainted and traded it away. Also read about someone who had a very rare vintage bike stolen and it ended up on CL a few states away for sale.


So unfortunately this is a losing battle. Best to keep your bikes secure and to me that means not locking up anywhere and keeping mine inside my house not in a garage or shed. I'm always amazed when I do the Montrose ride how many people leave their multi thousand dollar bikes unlocked and unattended outside Starbucks in Sierra Madre while they are getting coffee.

Rick@OCRR

I just left my '57 Hercules 3-Speed since no one would want to steal it and it's worth about .50 on the used bike market.

Changed my user name on Strava too. Am I paranoid or just being careful?

Rick / OCRR

CbadRider

I deleted the photo of the suspects since it could cause legal problems for the forum.

TrojanHorse

Too late ! I already know what you have. Good thing we're not the same height, the temptation might be overwhelming.

One of my gardener's helpers asked me what my bike cost the other day... I was unloading it from the truck. I said I didn't really know, I built it from bits and pieces. He was just being friendly, not stalky, but I really don't know. If I added it all up in my head and didn't tell anybody, my wife would still find out somehow.

Jed19

What legal problems? These were convicted thieves. The only issue I see is if the pictures don't match name of the felons on the state's record.

CommuteCommando

I have two bikes, one I paid about $1600 for, the other $600. I heard somewhere that most bikes that are stolen are inexpensive bikes, like the ones from big box stores, or Rick@OCRR 's Hercules. This makes sense since I see a lot of these bikes sitting on their kickstands, unlocked in front of a convenience store. I suspect most bike thieves are not the sophisticated professionals that inspired OP to start this thread.

I do worry about bike theft, but not a lot. When I do lock my bike when out on a ride, it is in a visible location, if possible where I can keep an eye on it, and not for more than a half hour. I do not lock it in my garage. I have never used my real name on Strava.

Guys who steal Wally's are not likely to even know what Strava is. The small minority of "pro" bike thieves are probably less interested in a "105" level road bike, or steel frame fixie like I have.

jimxyz

I still have a hard time riding SART toward the beach (I generally ride the other direction from Fullerton area - thieves don't look me up...) because of the guys who were jumped and had their bikes taken from them. Some in broad daylight. The "follow you home" bandits are bad, but the muggers are really bad. Admittedly, it has been less sketchy since they trimmed the bushes back around the soccer filed area.