Locked bait bike attracted a would-be thief in lower than 2 hours, Charlottetown police say

It’s a gut-wrenching second — going to hop in your bike solely to find it is not the place you left it, though you secured it with a superb lock. 

That’s a sense practically 200 individuals in P.E.I.’s capital metropolis have skilled thus far this summer time. 

To attempt to put a dent within the numbers, officers with Charlottetown Police Services have been getting inventive. 

“During the morning of Aug. 13, the Street Crime Unit set up surveillance on a locked e-bike in a public area,” the power stated in a information launch Wednesday. 

Less than two hours later, the discharge stated, a 34-year-old man “was seen approaching the bike, retrieving bolt cutters from his bag, cutting the lock and discarding it, and attempting to leave the area with the e-bike.”

He has been charged with theft over $5,000, mischief underneath $5,000 and failure to adjust to a probation order, and can seem in court docket Sept. 25.  

“This is not a one-off for us. We’ll continue this,” Sgt. Darren MacDougall advised CBC News in an interview, saying officers positioned the bike particularly “in the hopes of catching somebody in the act.”

Within the Charlottetown police power’s space of jurisdiction alone, 192 bikes have been stolen so far in 2025, MacDougall stated. 

“It’s very concerning for our residents in our community and we’re listening to the residents in the community. And this is part of why we are proactively now going out,” he stated.

MacDougall stated police do not imagine only one particular person has been stealing all these bikes; he expects a number of individuals have been discovering it profitable. 

‘No drawback reducing the lock’

Simply locking up your bike doesn’t assure its security, he warned. People who’re within the enterprise of stealing bikes come ready with instruments that may lower off most kinds of cheap locks.

Bike thefts immediate warning from P.E.I. biking group

Some cyclists on P.E.I. say bike thefts are a rising concern in the neighborhood. Islanders, guests and companies alike have been focused. CBC’s Gwyneth Egan experiences.

If it is not potential to retailer bikes indoors, riders are suggested to purchase locks {that a} bolt cutter cannot sever, equivalent to a U-lock or a sequence product of hardened metal. 

“If your lock is able to be cut with a bolt cutter, then I would suggest that these people who are out doing this will have no problem cutting the lock and taking the bike,” MacDougall stated.

He additionally suggested individuals to take an image of their bike and document its serial quantity so that there is a higher likelihood police will have the ability to return it to you if they arrive throughout a cache of stolen bikes.