Thousands of bicycles are stolen every year and a large number of them are never recovered.
Patrick Reynolds’ $8000 e-bike is among those. Three weeks ago, his ride was stolen from Britomart in Auckland.
CCTV footage captured the thief using an angle grinder to break free. Reynolds, who is a transport advocate, sought help from the police, but despite providing clear photos and a live GPS location of the stolen bike, police said they did not have enough “sufficient evidence”. to advance the investigation.
Speaking on Breakfast this morning, Reynolds said he is frustrated by the situation, especially as he has anti-theft technology built into his bike to prevent this from happening.
“There is an epidemic of theft crimes in Central Auckland, there is CCTV, but it still needs the man to do his job.”
He said his bike costs about $5000, but the same bike can no longer be imported into New Zealand.
“This seems to be emblematic, I have the feeling that the police do not take bicycle theft seriously. I have a car, but I prefer to use the bicycle because it is faster.”
Reynolds said that after receiving no response to his online submission about the theft, he followed up in person at a police station. Two days later he received an email saying that the information he had provided was “too historical”.
“They’re probably right, but the thing is, it’s so old because they didn’t act in the first place.”
In a statement to Breakfast, the police said that the information provided by the GPS was not enough to execute a search warrant.
“CCTV of a person of interest was also obtained, but police were unable to positively identify the individual.
“We empathize with the informant, but the Police need a certain level of sufficient evidence to be able to advance an investigation, which the officers were unable to achieve in this case.”
Reynolds told Breakfast if anyone recognizes the man captured in the footage, they should contact police immediately.
