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Brazen thieves hit Lakewood, steal locked bicycles

Police encourage registering bike for free
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Stolen bicycles are nothing new — an easy target, according to Lakewood police, but an easier find if they are registered.

Registering your bicycle with police takes a few minutes and is free. Residents just need to fill out a form with their serial number at the police department. Doing so ensures the bike is put into the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) that can be accessed by police departments all over if it is found.

So far this year, 126 bikes have been registered.

It is something Brian Frolo and Josh Jamison both wish they knew before falling victim to brazen bike thieves.

Frolo’s bright yellow Cannondale bicycle was snatched right from the garage of his Lakewood home in the middle of the day.

“It’s just brazen, absolutely brazen,” Frolo said.

His wife and kids’ bikes were untouched — but are now bearing bright red stickers showing they are registered with police. The family now keeps their bikes locked up in their garage and in their backyard.

“Kids don’t want to mess around with locking up their bike, they want to get on their bike and go. But that’s what you have to do now,” Frolo said.

Jamison’s bicycle was stolen from the secured garage of his Gold Coast apartment. The bicycle was locked to a bike rack and thieves disassembled it to steal it, taking the main frame and back wheel — leaving the locked front wheel behind.

“It’s probably a pretty quick job, just totally unexpected,” Jamison said. The $600 bicycle was a graduation gift. Jamison said his next bike will be registered immediately — and locked up even tighter.

Both Frolo and Jamison’s bikes have not turned up.

But in some other cases, thieves have simply used residents’ bikes to get from one place to another — dumping the wheels so that they are eventually found and returned to their owner if registered.