VIDEO: Thief Makes Off With Unlocked Bicycle
(CBS) -- As Chicago's bicycle population grows by leaps and bounds, so does the number of bike thefts.
One North Side victim caught his on tape, CBS 2's Mike Parker reports.
The You Tube video features music by the band Freezepop, pictures by an Andersonville surveillance camera -- and a crime by an unidentified man.
The camera rolls as the suspect slips through an open fence. After a little experimenting, he slips into a garage. Within moments, he is riding a stolen bicycled off into the horizon.
A volunteer for the Internet's Chicago Stolen Bike Registry watched the video and said the pictures teach a lesson.
"Absolutely. We know that a significant portion of bicycles are stolen unlocked," Justin Newman says.
Since the website started 10 years ago, thousands of bike owners filed reports detailing the serial number and descriptions of the bicycles and where and when they were ripped off.
Recommendations from the experts: When you secure your bike, use what are called U-Locks. Cable locks are easily severed. And whatever you do, don't leave your bike in an unsecured garage.
"If you stop and think for a moment you realize that when you leave a bike unlocked you're leaving behind not only their bike, but also their getaway vehicle," Newman says.
So far this year, 960 bike owners have reported thefts to that website. There are hundreds if not thousands more than are unreported. By the way, the Andersonville victim who posted that video did report his theft.
