GALVESTON — The free ride four accused bicycle thieves envisioned likely didn’t end at the county jail.
Responding to complaints of opportunistic thefts run amok, Galveston police set up a sting to see who would take the bait.
Undercover officers planted the bait — a $989 Trek mountain bike, minus all the police markings — and waited for a bite.
This model had yet to be tricked out with all the stickers that identify it as a police bicycle, which officers use to patrol the seawall and beach during the crowded tourist season.
On Saturday and Sunday, officers Clint Stevens and Marcelino Gonzalez stationed the top-of-the-line cycle in various places in the East Isle community, Capt. Jeff Heyse, a Galveston police spokesman, said.
With the weather wet and dreary Saturday night, police arrested only one person, a 51-year-old Texas City man, near a Broadway convenience store. He was charged with Class A misdemeanor theft, Heyse said.
Early Sunday, police arrested three alleged bicycle thieves, who found the Trek too tempting to resist.
“It does a great service, in that you see who your criminals are,” Heyse said. “These are the same people who see a Dell laptop bag in your car, and there goes your window. When you know these guys are out of jail, there may be a correlation.”
The officers didn’t use the department’s $4,000 bicycle, which if stolen could bring a felony charge, Heyse said.
