By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
Bike thieves have hit four Las Vegas retail bicycle stores by renting bikes and not returning them, according to one of the bike shops that suffered the loss of two mountain bikes during the past eight days.
“I hate bike thieves,” Las Vegas Cyclery owner Jared Fisher told LVSportsBiz.com Monday.
Fisher said the thieves would rent the bikes and not return them. He noted three other bike shops were hit the same way — McGhie’s, Giant Las Vegas and Southwest Bikes.
Las Vegas Cyclery in Summerlin posted this item on its Facebook page Monday.
Fisher said his bike store workers are talking with the other shops to catch the thieves.
ADDITION: Las Vegas Cyclery store manager Shawn Tyrone said the suspects are in custody as of Monday night.
He did note that one of the two Santa Cruz mountain bikes that was taken and not returned has been found in a pawn shop. That bike was taken from Las Vegas Cyclery Feb. 24. Another mountain bike that was rented Sunday and not returned has still not been found, Fisher said.
The mountain bikes are valued at $5,000 each, Fisher said.
A worker named Jackson at Southwest Bikes said the bike that was taken from his store has been found in a pawn shop. But he said police agencies in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas are trying to get on the same page to recover that mountain bike taken from Southwest Bikes. That bike was worth $4,500, he said.
One of the stolen bikes (not from his bike shop) was also recovered when it was seen being used on a mountain bike trail in the Boulder City area, Fisher said. Apparently, the bike rider has bought the mountain bike but didn’t realize it was stolen from a bike a shop.
“Somebody approached the guy riding the bike and and told him that bicycle that taken by a ring of bike thieves,” Fisher said.
“It’s devastating to see bikes stolen,” Fisher said. “It takes a lot to make up for a bike like that.”
Fisher and the Southwest Bikes employee believe the thieves are also hitting other retail stores that rent items that could be sold at pawn shops.