Those who live on South Green are more likely to have their bikes stolen.
Bikes parked near South Green residence halls are historically more likely to be stolen, according to a Post analysis of swiped cycles on Ohio University’s Athens campus.
Elliot Kaplan, who used to live on South Green, remembers a time his bike was nearly stolen.
Kaplan, now a senior studying mathematics, was at Donkey Coffee and Espresso one night early in 2013 when two people with wire cutters severed his bike’s lock outside Hoover House.
The duo managed to get away with two bikes — but not for long.
“They tried to ride up the hill on South Green onto the bike path, although since the ground was so wet and because my tires were flat, they couldn’t get up the hill,” Kaplan said. “The fact that they deliberately went through the trouble, bringing wire cutters to steal our bikes is a little bit incredible to me.”
Two OU resident assistants caught the thieves and the case was handed over to the police.
In 2013, OU Police Department received 51 bike theft reports — the highest number of bike theft accounts reported since 2010, according to police reports.
About 65 percent of bike thefts in 2013 occurred at residence halls and garages. Cycles near South Green residence halls were swiped most often, 17 times.
But, bike thefts have significantly decreased this year, according to OU police data.
OUPD received 18 bike theft reports from Jan. 1 to Nov. 1 of this year. That’s a 59 percent decrease compared to the number of reports the department received in 2013 during the same period.
The largest estimated loss from a single bike theft this year is $3,000 — also the highest reported loss since 2010, OUPD figures show.
OU Police Chief Andrew Powers wasn’t sure why this year’s numbers are so low, but called the decrease “a good thing.”
He still isn’t sure, though, if those numbers will climb back up next year or the year after.
Detective Richard Sargent, who does OUPD bike patrol, offered a number of explanations for the trend.
He said the decrease in thefts could mean fewer students are bringing bikes to campus, would-be thieves are opting against snatching them or more cyclists are investing in locks.
At Cycle Path Bicycles at West Union Street, co-owner John Lefelhocz said he’s seen more customers investing in locks.
“Bikes usually get stolen either the first couple weeks of the semester...and then the other time when we see the most number of bike thefts is just before everybody goes on break,” Lefelhocz said.
OUPD reports show May and June typically have high numbers of bike thefts on a monthly basis, even though most OU students are gone during that time. OUPD rounds up about 120 abandoned bicycles on racks throughout campus each summer, according to a previous Post article.
Brand-new bikes are more attractive to thieves, Lefelhocz said.
Other factors that increase the chances of a bike getting stolen, he said, include parking one’s bike overnight at places with little monitoring and improper locking methods.
To counter bike thefts, he advised bicycle owners to buy durable coil locks or opt to get a U-shaped lock. A good coil lock costs about $20, while a U-shaped lock cost about $30 to $40. Lefelhocz also recommends locking bikes indoors during long school breaks.
Even if your bike gets swiped, Lefelhocz said all hope isn’t lost, though it’s tough to reclaim.
A registered bike’s information is shared in a national database, Lefelhocz said. This increases the chance of recovery even if the bike is found somewhere far from Southeast Ohio.
If the bike is not registered, the owner must be able to legitimately identify his or her property, which include ownership documents or by identifying unique features, Sargent said.
“It’s not a bad idea to call the bike shops, we have a list of bikes that we are on the lookout for,” Lefelhocz said. “We don’t have a lot of success with it because most bikes don’t stay here in Athens, (but) we have had five to 10 people over the years who have gotten their bikes back.”
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