February 1, 20132 Comments on Five bike thieves arrested in Santa Cruz this week
A bike thief was arrested Wednesday night, and another early Thursday morning, bringing the tally of arrested bike thieves to five for this week, according to the Santa Cruz Police Department and news reports.
January 30, 2013Leave a Comment
Santa Cruz police arrest yet another bike thief who was caught in the act. That’s number seven in the past six weeks reported in the news.
January 28, 20131 Comment on Santa Cruz police catch yet another pair of bike thieves
From the Sentinel:
An alarm sounded [early Monday morning] at Epicenter Cycling; police found the window had been shattered and two high-end bikes had been stolen.
Police spotted Thomas Wingo and Jessica Vanbrug on King Street. They were arrested on suspicion of first-degree burglary and conspiracy.
I think that’s something like a half dozen bike thief arrests in as many weeks in Santa Cruz.
January 24, 2013Leave a Comment
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports on this hit and run with injuries on Branciforte Road (locals call it “B-40”) near Glen Canyon Drive. The hit and run occurred the evening of Tuesday, January 22, 2013. The cyclist was transported to Dominican Hospital with serious injuries.
A 64-year-old Watsonville man is accused of felony hit-and-run after striking a cyclist on Branciforte Drive and then crashing into a concrete divider Tuesday evening.
Eleazar Ayala allegedly struck a 32-year-old Santa Cruz man who was riding his bike southbound on Branciforte and then kept going, CHP officer Grant Boles said. A little farther down Branciforte, Ayala struck a divider, causing his 1998 Nissan pickup to flip onto its side.
In the reader comments following the full news article on this crash, Ayala’s two sons claim the driver experienced “an unprecedented medical condition” of some type (perhaps a stroke?), which caused the crash.
Branciforte is a narrow two lane mountain road with little to no shoulder. It’s not my preferred route into Santa Cruz but I ride Branciforte probably a couple of times per month. I’ll take the middle of the lane where necessary to avoid getting clipped by drivers who might try to dangerously squeeze past when there’s not sufficient space for lane sharing.
January 18, 2013Leave a Comment
An alert officer caught a bike thief in the act on Tuesday. Early Thursday morning, Santa Cruz PD arrested two more bike thieves shortly after the victim reported the theft.
Two men took the bike at 1:20 AM in a strong arm robbery near Riverside and Soquel avenues, according to the Sentinel. The victim called police, who found the suspects within the hour, arrested them, and returned the bike to its owner.
Two more gold stars for the Santa Cruz PD. We’re up to something like six bike thieves arrested since November.
January 17, 20132 Comments on Santa Cruz PD catch another bike thief
From the Sentinel police blotter for Thursday, January 17 2013:
A 35-year-old man was arrested Tuesday after an officer saw him trying to remove a Specialized bike from a bike rack in a parking garage at 2030 North Pacific Ave., said Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark.
The officer saw Adam Michael Brightwell trying to remove and dismantle a bike that was not his. Brightwell, who said his last address was the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center, was arrested on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools, according to police.
Well done to the Santa Cruz police officer who saw this attempted bike theft as it went down. I think this is something like the fourth Santa Cruz media report of a captured thief over the past couple of months.
There’s some discussion among local bike people who would like to see the Santa Cruz attorney make an example of bike thieves like Mr. Brightwell. I argued that stiffer penalties have almost no deterrent effect on criminal behavior. The better way to deter bike theft is to increase the chances of getting caught. Right now, bike theft is almost risk free in most areas. Bumping up the chances of catching the thief reduces the incidence of that crime, even if the criminal’s only punishment is an overnight stay and an order to appear.
As much as we might like to inflict bodily harm on bike thieves (and on their no-good enablers who purchase stolen goods), research consistently shows that increasing the severity of a punishment does not have much effect on crime, while increasing the certainty of punishment does have a deterrent effect.