Mission police use ‘bait bikes’ to help capture thieves in act
Anyone who has ever had a bike stolen, which is very nearly anyone who has ever owned one, will be pleased that the San Francisco Police Department’s Mission Station is stepping up efforts to bust bicycle thieves.
They may be even happier to view a video that police posted Friday morning on Twitter showing cops tackling a man who allegedly took a “bait bike” during an undercover surveillance operation two days earlier.
Police identified the suspect as Gareth Poole, 27, whose city of residence is not known. Poole was arrested on suspicion of felony grand theft and misdemeanor counts of possessing burglary tools, vandalism and possessing a vehicle master key.
Expect more undercover enforcement efforts, Mission Station officials promised.
“Mission officers will continue undercover surveillance throughout the Mission Police
District using ‘bait bikes’ to catch thieves,” the station’s tweet read.
The 44-second video clip, captured Wednesday afternoon outside the popular Mission Cliffs climbing gym on Harrison Street, shows someone locking a bike to a crowded rack as the suspect, a couple of feet away, crouches next to another bike.
As soon as the person locking the bike turns away, the suspect rises, slings a bag over his shoulder, grabs a white bike and starts pedaling away.
Instantly, an undercover officer races into the street and knocks the rider off the bike. The rider tries to run, but the cop tackles him, and another undercover cop helps subdue him. Soon, two police vehicles pull up on either side of the alleged thief.
The bust, which came amid an epidemic of burglaries and thefts in the city, was the result of an operation using bait bikes implanted with hidden GPS monitoring devices and left at spots where they’re likely to be stolen.
City police have been conducting such stings for a couple of years. Officer Giselle Linnane, a department spokeswoman, said the operations were stepped up recently when station Capt. Gaetano Caltagirone grew tired of the frequent bike thefts in the area.
“He’s definitely ramping up these operations,” Linnane said.
She called them an effective way to go after thieves.
“It’s one way we can track a bike and know it is a stolen bike since we put it out there and monitor it. And we have video,” she said. “In San Francisco, bikes are very near and dear to people. They depend on them to get around. A lot of these bikes are very expensive. People put a lot of money into them.”
Chris Cassidy, a spokesman for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said bike thefts cost San Franciscans millions of dollars a year. The group supports bait-bike operations, though Cassidy urged police to also focus on those who buy and resell stolen bikes.
“Obviously, the police were quick with this sting to nab one suspect after some pretty suspicious behavior,” he said. “What would it have looked like though if they followed this individual back to wherever he was taking the bike?”
Linnane advised cyclists to register their bikes with police, lock bikes securely and file a police report whenever a bike is stolen. Those steps, she said, make it more likely a stolen bike can be recovered.
Reported bike thefts in San Francisco more than doubled from 2006 to 2015, from 412 to 1,051, before dropping to 759 in 2016, according to the latest numbers from the state Department of Justice. Many more thefts go unreported.
A 2013 report by the city’s legislative analyst estimated that 4,085 bikes worth $4.6 million were stolen in 2012 alone, with the downtown and South of Market neighborhoods the hardest hit.