Surveillance video captures man using pickaxe to steal e-bike from locked garage in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — A south Minneapolis woman says her Sunday morning was turned upside down after she looked out of her kitchen window toward her garage.
"I walked in the kitchen and immediately saw that the garage was ajar and I knew right away. Like oh, they took the bike," said Angela Mitchell of the Powderhorn neighborhood.
Mitchell says the process of getting the bike started last year was more important to her than just for getting around.
"It is something that I knew that I wanted based on my multiple sclerosis," she said. "When I have to do pretty intense hills, I have to stop and try to walk it and it can become really cumbersome and frustrating. And so I wanted to try an e-bike and saved up for it and actually reached out to the MS Society to see if they had any grants or anything that they could help me with more."
Thankfully help did arrive and last November, Mitchell was finally able to purchase the $1,300 bike she had her eye on. With winter on the way though, she had to store it in the garage, meaning she never had a chance to ride it before it was stolen.
"I was very excited to use it this spring. And in the meantime, it was just tucked away in the garage. And we've had such good luck with we've lived here since 2016. And I've never had anything stolen, right," she said. "In my head, my one little padlock had overcome some sort of south Minneapolis mystery of stolen items. And then I was wrong."
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Surveillance video from Mitchell's home shows a stranger approaching her garage with a pickaxe, smashing the lock and then riding the e-bike away from the home.
Minneapolis police are investigating the burglary but so far, have not made any arrests.
Since January 2023, nearly 500 bikes have been reported stolen during burglaries In Minneapolis. Of those, 244 took place in June, July and August 2023 — 113 in July alone.
"I can say, if I had moved here a year ago and this happened, I might be like, 'Sign me up for a townhome in Apple Valley,' right?" Mitchell said with a laugh. "That is kind of the extra tax that you pay living in the city, is that things get stolen and you have to be extra careful and vigilant and you gotta watch out for your neighbors."
MPD shared a list of things residents can do to secure valuables in their garages:
Always keep your garage locked and take additional steps to further secure valuables items inside your garage. Consider storing expensive bikes inside your home or locking them to a stationary object in your garage.
Do not leave your garage remote inside your car. Carry it in with you or secure it inside your home.
Service doors should have a deadbolt with a minimum of 6-inch strike plates and 3-inch screws.
Alert your neighbors and block club members to burglaries and be sure to watch out for one another.
Call 911 to report criminal activity such as individuals walking down the alley checking in parked cars, trying to open doors, and looking into garage windows, or lurking near service doors.
Record all serial numbers of equipment such as bikes and tools and any guns you might have. Having this information in case you are the victim of a burglary may greatly help in getting it returned and tracking potential suspects.
Mitchell says she still loves her neighborhood, even if it taught her a valuable — and expensive — lesson.
"I think the person that stole it needed to get through the day and needed some money. That doesn't make it okay, it doesn't make me feel any better, it doesn't make me any less sad. But things like this do happen," she said. "Be extra careful if you've become complacent and it seems like things have been safe and locked up."
