Anatomy of a Bike Theft

By Nicholas Collias

June 29, 2005

Earlier this year, the Boise Police Department joined into an online network tracking stolen merchandise in pawnshops and secondhand stores nationwide. In other cities, the technology has helped in everything from murder cases to simple thefts. In Boise, it recently helped a cyclist recover a unique carbon fiber racing bike whose pilfering was anything but petit.

The bike's owner, Kurt Holzer from the local cycling group Lost River Cycling, told BW that the bike was stolen March 18 while parked in his carport for as little as 10 to 15 minutes after a bike ride-he really wasn't sure.

"He didn't have any suspect information, there were no witnesses, no fingerprints or anything we could run to do any follow-ups," Boise Police detective Mike Hill told BW. "So basically [the police report] was filed for information only." What Holzer did have, however (take heed, bike fans), was his ride's serial number. Ever since the passing of a new city ordinance about the business practices of pawnbrokers last fall, that number can be enough.

According to the new rules, passed by the City Council in October and effective since January, employees at all of Boise's 11 pawnshops are required to electronically "memorialize" those sad moments when local patrons put their belongings into hock. These electronic receipts must include complete descriptions of pawned items, serial numbers, and either a photo or thumbprint from the seller, and must be sent to Boise Police by the following business day. The information is then fed into Leads Online, an Internet database that police investigators can use to locate stolen items that have been pawned in over 350 cities. If pawnbrokers fail to send the info in, or provide false, altered or unreadable serial numbers, they can face a misdemeanor charge punishable by fines and up to 90 days in jail.

"If a car stereo gets stolen today, pawned tonight, and I get the police report tomorrow, I'll be able to see if it's been pawned in Boise," Hill explained. In this case, Hill said Holzer's bike was pawned within hours of being stolen, at First National Pawn downtown on 14th St., for $400-a fraction of its worth. Holzer called police to report the theft the following day, but the match wasn't made. Holzer told BW that the pawnshop had wrongly submitted the serial number. Hill limited his prognosis to, "Mistakes were made. We're working to make sure that they don't happen again."

Hill said the case came across his desk a few weeks later, when one of Holzer's friends heard a customer haggling with an employee in the pawnshop for the bike. When Holzer informed police of the bike's location, they placed a hold on it, located the local man who pawned it through the electronic records, and Hill tracked him down. Two interviews and a polygraph test later, Hill was confident he had his man. But by then, Holzer's insurance had given up and replaced the bike.

"The real story here is to keep the serial numbers of your valuables," Hill says. "That way, we can locate them if they turn up in a pawn shop in Boise, or in North Carolina."

(L.E.A.D.S.ONLINE CLIENT – BOISE, ID POLICE DEPT.)