With bike as bait, police spring trap

A man in a red shirt and white cap slowly circled a shiny blue bicycle leaning against the side of the Bank of America building on a quiet Wednesday in downtown Spokane.

He walked by, glanced over his shoulder, and then leaped on the seat and began pedaling furiously, quickly realizing that the bike was permanently set in first gear.

Suddenly, from all corners of the street, a phalanx of police officers descended on him, ordered him to the ground and arrested him on theft charges.

The 18-year-old man was sent to jail, and Sgt. Joe Walker settled back into the comfort of his air-conditioned, unmarked SUV, nervously picking his fingers while waiting for the next unsuspecting bicycle thief.

The first suspect had previous convictions for theft and vehicle prowling. “This is the exact kind of person we want to be dealing with,” Walker said as he kept an eagle eye on the bait bike, now perched against a planter in front of the bank and poised to be pilfered again.

Responding to complaints in the past few months, police are targeting crimes near Wall Street and Riverside Avenue, Walker said. Security officers at the Bank of America and Sterling Savings say they are seeing young people loiter around the street and exchange packages with cars that drive up.

By setting up a sting operation, police hope to reduce that crime, Walker said.

“Dopers and thieves tend to hang out together,” he said.

Later in the afternoon, a young woman approached the bike and sat on it for 10 minutes, apprehensively walking it around and testing the waters.

“I think she’s going to take it,” Walker said. He anxiously waited, as did officers in a nearby van.

Finally the woman joined a group of friends and walked the bike away. Police who had lain in wait erupted in a burst of activity. The patrol cars showed up, the handcuffs were slapped on, and it was another arrest, watched by a crowd of onlookers.

“I think our cover’s blown here,” Walker said.

Several units of the Police Department came together to work the string, Walker said. That way there aren’t too many resources taken away from any specific unit during the day.

The bike was recovered from a drug seizure and valued at $400, which meant anyone who stole it would face felony charges and a jail booking. Officers had a local bike shop alter the bike so that it couldn’t shift out of first gear.

Walker said the sting wasn’t a case of entrapment because police weren’t trying to encourage the theft. Anybody should be able to leave their bike outside a building without fear that it will be missing when they return, he said.

“We’re not hanging a sign that says, ‘Please steal me,’ ” he said.