Portland Bike Theft Task Force Cop Has His Police Bike Stolen

Portland, OR – A member of the Portland Police Bureau’s bike theft prevention division had his own bike stolen.

“Yes, it’s true …,” the Portland Police Bureau’s Bike Theft Task Force reported Jan. 16 on Twitter. “One of our police bikes was just stolen downtown. … Well, this oughta be good for some comments at least… ‘Please help Bike Theft Task Force Officer Sanders find his stolen bike’ …”

“Yes, we do realize that the ‘POLICE’ Velcro patches have undoubtedy been torn off by now …”

The police said the bike was last seen on Jan. 15 at 5:35 p.m. and also hinted at a reward for the bike’s retrieval.

“REWARD: Coffee with a cop?” the Portland Police Bureau posted.

Someone took Portland Police Bureau Officer Dave Sanders’ police bike that was parked in front of the Multnomah County Courthouse, according to KPTV.

Officer Sanders said he was late for a grand jury hearing and left his bike lock at the office. But he did secure his bike with a pair of handcuffs, according to KPTV.

When Officer Sanders returned, his bike was missing and the handcuffs were left dangling on the bike rack.

At first, Officer Sanders believed it to be a prank done by a fellow officer, KPTV reported. However, when he checked the surveillance video he then realized the bike was actually stolen.

“It’s discouraging that we’ve reached this level that somebody feels so empowered that they can get away with it, that they’ll try something like this, that’s discouraging that our bike theft problem is that bad. But it also motivates me, it’s kind of a motivator to say hey let’s do more, let’s see what we can do better to prevent this from happening,” Sanders said, according to KPTV.

The police bike was registered. Police say a registered bike has twice the chance of being recovered. An unregistered bike has a 1 in 10 chance of being returned to its owner, according to KPTV.