Police charge 10 in bike ‘bait’ project

By KENNETH JACKSON

Metro Ottawa, May 11, 2006

They took the bait — hook,

line and sinker.

A two-day surveillance of

strategically placed bicycles

left in the downtown core has

resulted in city police laying

more than 30 theft charges

against 10 Ottawa residents.

Staff-Sgt. Monique Perras

said officers placed “bait”

bikes to blitz areas where

there have been rashes of

bike thefts.

“What they do is place bait

bikes in different areas

where there has been bikes

stolen in the past. They keep

surveillance and nab the guy

when he attempts to take the

bike,” said Perras.

“We do little projects like

this where there is a high

flow of that type of crime,”

she said. “We’ll be doing

more of these projects

throughout the summer.”

Officers focused on Elgin

and Bank streets and during

the course of the blitz also

recovered a stolen vehicle,

10 grams of crack cocaine

and seized $690.

Police urge cyclists to

make it difficult for opportunistic

bike thieves by locking

their cycles in busy, public

areas and avoiding out-of-the-

way locations, like alleys.