Alleged Kelowna bait bike thief caught in less than 4 minutes

An alleged bike theft was caught in less than four minutes after the Kelowna RCMP’s Community Safety Unit (CSU) stationed a bait bike in the downtown core.

The man was arrested last Thursday for theft under $5,000 and is due in court in January.

Sgt. Scott Powrie with the CSU said that although bike thefts overall are decreasing, officers continue to target bike thieves.

“This is a community effort; keep locking your bikes and documenting your serial numbers please,” said Sgt. Powrie in a statement issued Wednesday.

A news release from late September said the Kelowna RCMP received 216 reported bike thefts under $5,000 this year.

That’s down from the 264 reports during the same time period in 2023.

An analysis done by the Kelowna RCMP found that more than 80% of bike theft happen between 7 am and 7 pm and nearly 60% of thefts include some forced entry, like cutting a lock or breaking into a secure storage space.

Last month’s analysts also found that 64% of people who reported a bike theft did not provide their serial number.

In September, Cpl. Michael Gauthier with the Kelowna RCMP said keeping track of your bike’s serial number makes it easier for officers to return it.

“It’s not impossible to return a bike without the serial number, but it certainly makes it more difficult to locate the correct owner,” he noted.