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news
Bike bunker (c) OC Sheriffs Dept.jpgOfficials clearing California homeless site find bunker containing 1000+ bikes
The discovery of more than a thousand bikes in an underground bunker in California has led police to suspect a large scale organised programme of theft.
Officials clearing a homeless encampment in Orange County discovered several bunkers that appeared to be built by amateurs, one full of more than a thousand bikes.
They were found in the tunnel system under the concrete flood control channel of the Santa Ana river.
The Orange County Register reported that one underground bunker had wood-panelled walls and a support beam, and was accessible only via a hatch camouflaged to blend in with its dirt surroundings.
A gun was also found at the location, with three spent casings.
Nearby San Francisco has such an epidemic of bike theft that one bike is now being stolen every three hours.
“There was a malicious attempt to associate this stash of bikes with the removal of the Fountain Valley encampment,” homeless advocate Mohommed Aly told the paper. .
“The Sheriff’s Department has an incentive to portray the most vulnerable members of our community as criminals. It’s difficult for people not to lose empathy when law enforcement is misrepresenting the facts.”
“A reasonable person is going to assume it’s the homeless, but we don’t have any evidence to back that up,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Puckett, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
Latest Comments
- David9694 3 hours 20 min ago
I hope you're all checking your insurance policies, helmets, test certificates and road tax, it's the 2024 round-up...
- check12 5 hours 1 min ago
200 people out of a close by population of how many? Just build it and stop being a wuss
- Spangly Shiny 6 hours 34 min ago
To paraphrase Field of Dreams, "Build it right and they will come: and use it!"
- Rendel Harris 8 hours 55 min ago
And a Happy Christmas to you, road.cc staff!
- Rendel Harris 9 hours 43 min ago
The odds of not being able to find a single pedestrian - just one, note, "any pedestrian" - in an area containing more than about ten of them who...
- bikeman01 11 hours 22 min ago
I love how wannabe racer reviewers talk about fork flex under braking like their tyres are made of glue. I find traction gives long before fork flex.
- hawkinspeter 12 hours 29 min ago
They don't make them like they used to
- LongitudeLatitude 13 hours 19 min ago
Thanks for using my picture of chocolate in your opening picture. The original can be found here, chocolate! | LongitudeLatitude | Flickr.
- lesterama 13 hours 46 min ago
Fair comments. I'll put my hands up and say I got the wrong end of the stick with this one. ¡Feliz navidad! Here's a pic for the season of goodwill.
- Mike Holmes 13 hours 51 min ago
A trip down memory lane (or street) for me - Harry Quinn's bike shop was at the top of our Street and I used to spend time staring at the bikes and...
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18 comments
I think these guys became homeless because they bought too many bikes. I’ll be homeless soon, but the bikes are coming with me!
I suspect the local bike shop
.
"Looks like ... just homeless that steal a bike every time they need to get from Point A to Point B..."
Yeah, and the bike owners have just to walk , after all they are rich enough and have all the time for walking.
"Looks like there's maybe $50usd total value of bikes in that picture. I doubt it's a crime ring... "
Yeah, in fact i even suggest that they complain to the bike owners because their bike is not properly maintained and setup, really no value there.
San Francisco and Orange County are about 600km apart so trying to connect any bike thefts in San Fran to this is a bit of a stretch.
They all used to belong to Damon Albarn.
Ha I enjoyed that somebody else remembers that Albarn said he never locked his bikes and used to buy about 10 a week or something stupid.
Looks like there's maybe $50usd total value of bikes in that picture. I doubt it's a crime ring...more than likely just homeless that steal a bike every time they need to get from Point A to Point B because it's convenient, and have amassed such an inventory. A pawn shop will only offer about $10 on a beater Walmart bike...and if the seller looks homeless...pawn shops won't buy from them. Begging is more lucrative than stealing bikes for homeless.
There's a charity organization meal center near me that also offers bikes to needy for transportation. When I wrenched, I was volunteered a couple times by others to help fix up bikes. It's amazing...you spend two hours fixing up a piece of junk they own, then the every time you see them thereafter, they're on a completely different bike they "inexplicably" now possess.
perhaps they swap the now-fixed bike for a piece of junk plus something else, then get the junk fixed up for free, and the Wheel of Life turns full circle. Entrepreneurial.
Edited my post after you commented, but the type of fixing up is most basic stuff...cables, chains, tires/tubes. Anything else like seat or bars would likely be stripped off old bikes and used. The bikes still wouldn't have good resale for the reason(s) I mentioned in my edited post...But I have no doubt the patrons took advantage of the institution with an unreasonable number of services...how many bikes do people need a month? Certainly not more than one or two.
It seems that a lot of homeless want (or wanted) to get to point B. I wonder what the attraction was.
What do you think?
Do I have to spell it out? I think Jamminatrix is wrong.
Well Lt Phuckup, I call you to task on whether this is a reaonable Trump voter or a reasonable person as a reasonable person would interprete reasonable person being that assumes this...
”a reasonable Trump voter” - contradiction in terms.
a reasonable person wouldn’t assume anything, and Sherff Phuckett should know better.
Something tells me Sherrif Phukwit has an agenda
That would be a reasonable assumption.
"Nearby San Francisco has such an epidemic of bike theft that one bike is now being stolen every three hours."
You'd think the owner would have learnt to lock it up by now.
Yeah! I know, old joke, blah, blah, blah.
I'll get me coat.
Obviously just a case of kleptomania.