Stolen e-bikes recovered and suspects charged thanks to quick community action

Ross Taylor, owner of Ross’ Bike Works in downtown Stratford, has never been more grateful to live and work in Stratford.

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Last week, at the tail end of Stratford’s first major taste of winter weather, two thieves broke into Taylor’s shop and made away with two e-bikes valued at more than $10,000 combined. Less than 14 hours later, however, police were able to recover both stolen bikes and, as of this Tuesday, two suspects had been arrested and charged.

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“I get a phone call at 10:30 pm from my insurance company about my alarm going off, and I arrived (at the shop) and there were four police officers waiting for me, which is really weird. …We have a door with two panels of glass and (the thieves) had kicked the glass open and unlocked the door from the inside,” Taylor told the Beacon Herald.

“They actually came first – they had a snow shovel – and they came in and they’re shoveling,” Taylor alleged. “They looked like they were working and they were scoping out the place waiting for everyone to clear the area. A pedestrian walked by, a couple cars drove by – you see all this in the security footage – and they’re shoveling away. They actually left the shovel behind, so now I have a new shovel.”

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While Taylor said officers tried to track down the stolen bikes by following their tire tracks in the snow, they soon lost the trail. Investigators then turned to the high-tech security cameras at Ross’ Bike Works, collecting clear, high-resolution footage of both thieves in action. While Taylor said one thief was caught on camera removing his balaclava to smoke a cigarette outside, police had plenty of help identifying suspects after the security footage from the robbery was posted to a community Facebook page.

“Facebook was super helpful, weirdly enough. People were sending names to us and police were investigating them. They would say, ‘We know this guy,’ and people were sending side-by-side photos,” Taylor said.

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In a press release, Stratford police said officers identified two suspects – a 37-year-old Stratford man and a 60-year-old Stratford man. On Nov. 29, the evening after the theft, police said officers located and arrested the 37-year-old suspect and charged him with theft with a value more than $5,000 and arrested and entered. In an interview with the Beacon Herald one week later, Stratford police Insp. Mark Taylor said the second suspect was also arrested and similarly charged on Dec. 5.

“The assistance we get from the public is always good, and Facebook can be used for good when it comes to the police,” Insp. Taylor said. “We like when they call us first to give us the heads up when there’s been a theft or crime before it reaches Facebook, but it always benefits us for sure. …We want to thank the public for their assistance.”

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As for the bikes themselves, police said officers received word shortly after 10:30 pm on Nov. 29 that one of the stolen e-bikes was at a business on Erie Street, leading to its recovery. Then, at 3 am the following morning, police reportedly found a 45-year-old woman riding the second e-bike. Officers arrested and charged the woman for possession of stolen property, and both e-bikes were returned to Ross Taylor with some minor scratches and other damage.

“Kudos to the officers who worked hard that day and that night to find where the bikes were,” Insp. Taylor said. “We did get some more support from the public to identify where the bikes were, so our officers were able to jump on it very quickly and find the bikes. …Within 12 to 14 hours, we had those bikes back in our possession and we could return them to Ross.”

The police inspector encouraged locals to keep their bikes locked up and to take a page from Ross Taylor’s book by installing security cameras to help police with similar thefts.

“The thing I took away from this is how great our community it,” Ross Taylor said. “The outpouring of love with people coming in and people sending me baked goods – just phoning and messaging me and wishing me well – and all the help we got from the community just made me realize how great of a city we live in. I love Stratford – always have – but after all this I’d never want to live anywhere else.”

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