Bike theft upsetting trend for Santa Cruz residents

In a city where many people rely on bikes as a main form of transportation, bicycle thefts continue to happen in Santa Cruz.

Some riders don’t use locks or they use cable locks, which are easy to cut through. Bike shops recommend using u-shaped locks land locking your wheel to the frame with it.

Dozens of people post photos of stolen or found bikes on social media.

Santa Cruz Police PIO Joyce Blaschke said bike theft is the second most common form of property theft only topped by vehicle break-ins.

While some riders get a happy ending and their bikes recovered, others are at a loss, like Savannah Meyer whose bike was stolen from a rack at her apartment complex, despite having a lock.

“I came home and the bike lock was cut,” Meyer told KION. “It’s just really common now and it’s almost like a matter of time that it was going to happen.”

Police said stolen bikes, especially expensive ones, are often sold in parts.

Some bike shop workers in Santa Cruz think there’s a larger issue as to why these bikes are being stolen in the first place.

“If people don’t have housing and they don’t have enough money for food, it makes sense as to why they would want to take a bike,” said Alder who works at Santa Cruz bike shop Bike Church.

Bike Church is working to address this issue by letting people do work trade for bikes. They get $13 an hour that goes toward a new bike or parts.

“Jailing poor people because they took a bike is not going to stop the next person from taking your bike,” said Zav Hershfield who works for a bike courier and delivery service.

Both Alder and Hershfield agree with each other that the housing crisis is to blame, saying there are economic issues that could be solved by increasing the minimum wage.

Santa Cruz Police Department offers free online registration for your bikes which helps them get it back to you if it does get stolen.