Sometimes a bike lock isn't enough.
Video captured this weekend shows a man making off with a bike — and the bike rack it's locked to.
In the video posted by user myconidmachine on Reddit, the man can be seen entering the intersection at West Georgia and Seymour in downtown Vancouver. He uses his feet to push the bike along since the rack is in the way of the pedals.
The man doesn't seem to be bothered by the traffic or witnesses. One woman calls out to him.
"My dude, we can all see you!" she shouts.
He continues down West Georgia as the video ends.
In the comments, the person who posted the video notes they were a witness. When asked why they didn't do something, they note they weren't willing to get into a potentially dangerous situation over a stranger's bike.
"I'm not losing my teeth for someone else's property. A bike is not a life," they write. "Besides, who knows how far this guy transported the bike and bike rack? There's no way for me to return it to the owner even if I were able to recover it."
Bike thefts down
Earlier this year, it was reported that bike thefts in Vancouver have gone down since 2015. That's the year Project 529 started. The program asks users to record their bike information on the Project 529 app for free. In turn, this helps police return stolen bikes to their rightful owners.
How much did bike thefts decrease in those six years? Forty per cent.
Vancouver Is Awesome has reached out to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) about this particular incident. Police aren't sure if the bike was reported stolen since the video doesn't show when or where it was taken.
Registering a bike with Project 529 is free and can be done online.
For anyone who wants to report a non-emergency crime (like the theft of a bike), the VPD have an online reporting tool. You can also call 604-717-3321. The Reddit user notes in the comments that they've filed a crime report with VPD.
