Toronto Thief Found with Record 2,396 Stolen Bikes

[epoh]

 

geez, and we thought our country had a problem with bicycle theft, check this mofo out. It is probably an extreme isolated case though.

 

 

Source: http://webecoist.com/2008/08/22/toronto-thief-found-with-record-2396-stolen-bikes/

 

So what does one do with thousands of bicycles? Igor Kenk?s

record-setting collection have sparked myriad theories, ranging from

the obvious: that he was planning to resell them all eventually in his

used bicycle shop, to the eccentric: that he was saving them to melt

them down during the next spike in scrap metal prices or was hording

them for the eventual energy apocalypse.

 

Igor?s operation alone might explain most of Toronto?s reputation for

being the capital of bike theft in North America. His shop was so

filled with bicycles that police had to take out second floor windows

and lower the bikes out them. Clearly this collection has been growing

for a very long time. His shop even had a reputation as the place to go

to buy back your stolen bike - but no one knew for sure that he was the

one stealing them. Rumor has it he was waiting for a big energy crisis

where the world as we know it would come to an end and he could make a

killing reselling the rest.

 

Over ten thousand frustrated bicycle theft victims have perused Igor?s

reclaimed collection of stolen goods but only a few hundred bycles have

been returned. He is now facing dozens of counts relating to the thefts

alone, but the story doesn?t end there: raids on Igor Kenk?s house and

myriad storage places revealed crack, cocaine and pounds of marijuana ?

as well as a stolen bronze statue of a centaur and snake in the heat of

battle. How that fits in is anyone?s guess.

 

So how hard is it, really, to steal a bike in a public downtown place

like Toronto? Well, two brothers - using their own bike and tools - set

out to find out just that in the heart of New York City. Starting small

they use a bolt cutters in Union Square but by the end they are using

power tools and full protective gear to steal (their own) bikes in

broad daylight - all without being stopped.There is one concerned

citizen throughout the whole film however ? Hector, who stops to offer

his advice on potentially better tools to speed up the operation.

 

 

http://webecoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/bike-thief.jpg

 

http://webecoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/stolen-bicycles.jpg

 

 

[linnega]

Funny thing is that we don't have a problem with bike theft - realtviely speaking.  It seems that a disproportionate number of theft cases relate to bike theft in highly civilised, first world cities.  In SA, and all other third world cities, bike theft is pretty much in line with other types of theft.