CNS reporter ‘wheel-less’ after new bike nicked
(CNS): Thieves made off with CNS reporter Wendy Ledger’s bicycle, Tuesday/Wednesday in a daring crime leaving the hard working journalist wheel-less in her pursuit of local news. Ledger was fuming when her brand new 2-wheeled chum was pilfered from outside her own apartment in West Bay where it was locked up. Ledger, who has reported the theft to the district police station, said it is the fourth set of wheels she has had stolen over the last few years, despite being securely chained, but this time the bike was not even five weeks old before it was nicked.
Trying to go green and use her bike instead of her car to cut down on her carbon footprint wherever possible, the CNS reporter said she couldn’t believe that thieves had taken the new bike, saying that she was hoping that she could get at least six months use from this one before it was taken by the velocipede villains.
“I expect I will have to run around now to gather news in order to try and stay green, but I liked that bike,” she said. “I’ve reported it to the local police but somehow, given their caseload, I don’t expect it will be top of the agenda. But I’m not given up without a fight and if I see that bike under anyone else's backside I’m getting it back,” she said with steely determination. “You never know, someone might spot it or maybe even the thieves might take pity on me when they realize I’m just as skint as they are and bring it back.”
If anyone sees Ledger’s new bike or if those who now have possession of it realize she needs it more than they do and they have “A Road to Damascus moment”, please contact her on 926-6816 or email wendyledger@caymannewsservice.com.
Category: Crime
Licence and register all bikes and the owner's. A one time fee of $50.00 for each new owner.
How will that stop pople from stealing bikes and shipping them off island?
Metal is cash!
I hope you get your bicycle back, which won't happen. I had two stolen.. it's very frustrating.
Chances are it's already spray-painted, so all you'll ever see is another bicycle shaped like yours.
This wouldn't have happened if the wb politicians would hand out bikes instead of fridges. Sad. If you're gonna buy votes at least buy them with bikes in the name of reducing crime.
Welcome to Jamiaicayman.
They make GPS tracking devices that can be disguised into the bike, similar to a lojack anti-theft system for cars. Once armed they will notify via text message when the bike has been moved. They cost around US$150. Why can't the RCIPS plant a few bikes equiped with these around high theft areas and wait for them to be stolen, which they will be, and then follow the signal to the theives. How easy, and cheap. I guess it makes too much sense.
They can't and won't do this cause it means they will have to work to stake out the bikes to see who removes them. They just got 3/4 million dollars worth of cars, they should have been handed bicycles instead and made to do meaningful patrols. With that said, the life span of 75% of the cars will take us to right around June 1, 2014. WASTED public funds
Attaching the dummy bikes to anti-personnel mines would also be an effective deterrent and possibly reduce the prison costs.
Zeus took it.
A container will be leaving for Jamaica soon. You can guarantee that Wendy's bike will be inside it. I have lost 4. I had the last one on my patio for over a year and one night I see a flashlight beaming back and forth.
It was 3.00 am and I couldn't sleep, so I was watching tv. The light got me curious so I peeked around the curtain to see….a police car. I immediately assumed it was a routine patrol.
2 days later, the bike was gone after spending a year in the same place. What a coincidence, eh?
Welcome to Jamaicayman.
These thefts come in cycles. It will soon pass.
Use a U-lock for the Bike, and cable for the wheels. Some lock companies offer on-line insurance if your lock is broken or cut. Having said that, I had my new $70 (unsecured) Kryptonite lock stolen, and they left the crappy bike!
Wendy,….and the lesson???…..take your bike inside your apartment!
Wendy Note: I would but I live on the 90th floor……OK i'm lying its the second it just feels like 90 when your carrying a bike.
Buy a lighter bike.
Wendy, sorry for your loss. WHilst I have not suffered a theft, I keep mybike locked up (inconveniently I might add) in my living room..I just know it will disappear if I leave it elsewhere or locked up outside.
I am just puzzled, so many thieves arrested recently and yet this still goes on? How many thieves do we have on this island? This so called paradise.
Lets all watch out for Wendy's bike and try to catch someone with it, get them prosecuted and sent where they belong.
There seems to be more thieves than voters
Yes, the voters elected the thieves.
That is the best comment I've read all year! Well done!
Unless it had been painted over it shouldn't be too difficult to spot. Hopefully CNS' readers will beon the lookout for it and report it to the police if spotted. It's sad to learn that one individual could have that many bikes stolen. I wonder what the number would be if the entire island was surveyed.
You've had 3 bikes stolen and you STILL left your brand spanking one outside?
Probably used the same kind of lock… And you expected a diferent outcome…
Try a U lock. Not cheap but I can assure you that your next bike, if you try it again, will not be stolen.
Welcome to WB, the land of opportunity – if you are a thief!
Such a relief to know that there is no crime outside of the district of West Bay. But wait a minute, what about that poor woman who got shot opposite the gas station in Bodden Town? Or the two tourists who were mugged in the district of East End? Or …. truthfully, the list could go on, but, please, cease being silly (and in denial).
Nothing but riders in the West…That ride is probably black and gold by now with a different seat and handle bars. GAZA Style
Stop taking potshots at our paranoid Premier and we will give you your bike back. LOL
You live in West Bay. Get used to it.
Or move anywhere else and live crime-free? Stop being in denial. This fantasy about WB is getting so old.
Next time put some cow itch over the handle bars
put some on the seat too lol
These thieves seem to be going through the Island looking for bicycles and boat engines. People dont seem to be reporting most of the theft as they are not usually found anyway.
I say lets have a whip round for a new bike , come on y'all Wendy deserves it ….but really more importantly there are too many bikes stolen on this littleisland and no one cares and lets face it it is usually the people who can least afford it who are the victims…..same old same old…
sad.
Do the decent thing and give the bike back now! But have to say velocipede villains good one….
You don't seriously think that whoever stole the bike is reading these posts? Sad to say, but chances are the thief probably can't even read!
Yes, it's the Chief Education Officer's fault. Make her buy you a new bike, Wendy.
Wendy. Sorry kiddo – but fundamentally the police do not seem to care. 4 bikes and no prosecution?
Buy a new bike and store it properly, Wendy. RCIPS probably cares about this as much as I do.
We need to stop blaming victims of crime. It is up to the authorities to keep us and our property safe. Yes – we have a responsibility – but there is clearly a total failure of investigation, detection, enforcement, prosecution and punishment – and it sickens me that this is being twisted into being the responsibility of victims. Do a sting operation for God's sake!
Honestly….this is not news.
Sorry your valuable time surfing the online news was wasted…
Wendy, we had our bikes stolen only two days after purchasing. They were stolen at our condo complex and were locked up on the community bike rack. We purchased two more new bikes and now we keep them inside our condo. No more storing bikes outside, we learned our lesson. We filed a police report and had to pay $25 for a copy. We found a few bikes in the "weeds" over in Camana Bay, unfortunately we couldn't claim any of them, they did not belong to us.
It's their site, they can report what they want.
Another example of unthinking, knee-jerk commentary.
I've always wanted to know what exactly "news" is. Is an article on the Olympics "news" when we know all about them already? Is a retrospective of Mandela's life "news "? Is Philip Seymour Hoffman's death "news" when thousands of heroin addicts die each year?
The fact that something can appear trivial to some doesn't prevent it from being news. My personal view is that if it sells (ie people read it), then it's news. Even if it's a story about Wendy's bike or Sandra's wretched dogs (again).