Hero nurse poses as police officer to stop city bike thief
HE MADE A CITIZEN ARREST AFTER SPOTTING STOLEN BIKE
A HEROIC student nurse posed as a police officer to stop a bike thief in his tracks.
Luis Assuncao, 46, was on his way home from visiting a friend on Monday night, when he spotted a man riding a bike without a registration plate in east Hull.
He suspected the bike was stolen and asked the rider to stop, however, the rider rode onto the sidewalk and tried to speed away.
Luis figured the only way to stop the man was to yell that he was a police officer. He said because it was so dangerous for him to be riding the bike in the manner he was, he then asked the man to drop the bike and leave.
Luis, who owns a bike himself, said: “If it was my bike being stolen, I would want someone to do the same for me.
“You work so hard to get yourself a bike but you are always having to check over your shoulder to ensure that no one is taking it.
“I have a garage at home but if I go anywhere else, I feel scared that someone is taking it.
“This has been happening so often, I have seen three bikes being stolen over the last month and a half. When you see three 14-year-olds riding a bike, it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out it is stolen.”
After Luis managed to stop the rider, he stopped a police car that was passing by and informed them of what he had just seen.
The officers took the bike with them.
Luis claims bike theft is becoming an epidemic with more and more people fearing their bikes will be stolen. He said just recently, a friend of his was followed home and had his bike stolen.
Luis said: “It is so dangerous. Without a registration plate on the bikes, they could go on to commit more dangerous crimes like robbing a bank and there would be no way to trace them back.”
In July as part of Operation Yellowfin, Humberside Police launched a 12-strong bike task force with members of Hull City Council’s antisocial behaviour team to tackle the illegal use of motorbikes.
Based on ONS figures, between March 2020 and March 2021 there was a decrease of 43 per cent in recorded vehicle theft crime in Humberside Police force’s area.
However, to what extent the decrease was due to pandemic restrictions is unclear.