Many students may be walking among thieves around campus without even realizing it. University Police Department is giving students a piece of advice to protect their bikes aside from using U-bolt locks over cable locks.
UPD detective David Huff said students being aware of their surroundings is key. Surveillance cameras from the Kinghorn Hall bike room showed several students walked by a suspect who is being charged with stealing 25 bikes around campus and didn't realize it or didn't report it. Kinghorn Hall and Park Hall each have at least one surveillance camera in their bike rooms for safety.
"[When they saw his mugshot] I'm sure several people were saying ‘I know that guy. I've see that guy. I walked beside this guy,'" Huff said. "After revealing some of our footage, there were several people that have walked past this subject."
Twenty-eight bikes have been stolen since the beginning of the school year. Out of those, Charles F. Armstrong, 49, is being charged with stealing 25 bikes. He wasn't given a chance to speak prior to being arrested, but Huff said the stolen bikes were most likely sold.
Armstrong was found with bolt cutters in the Kinghorn Hall bike room Thursday. Huff and other plain clothed UPD officers had been staking out both Kinghorn and Park residence halls for about two weeks to find the suspect.
UPD officers were able to identify Armstrong through witness statements from previous thefts and video surveillance footage.
Huff said all of the bikes stolen were protected by a cable lock rather than the UPD preferred U-bolt lock. Most of the bikes were also women's style bikes with luggage rack or a basket on them.
Police chief Gene Burton said students are strongly encouraged to use U-bolt locks instead of cable locks.
Burton said they leave the rest of the safety in students' hands because making the rooms more secure would be inconvenient.
"Those bike rooms are open so the kids can use them and have their bikes available to them 24 hours a day," he said.
UPD did not find any of the stolen bikes at Armstrong's Muncie residence. UPD is continuing the investigation in hopes of finding the bikes.
Senior psychology major Erick Bramstedt's $400 bike was stolen from Windsong Apartments where he lives Sept. 19. He said he didn't see the importance of using a U-lock until his bike was stolen.
"I thought a cable would be enough really," he said. "I didn't think it would happen to me, but it was a pretty nice bike so people probably knew to take that one instead of other ones."
Jacob Foster, junior information systems major, said his bike was stolen at the beginning of last school year when he parked his bike outside of Kinghorn Hall unlocked because his lock was packed.
He found his bike at the bike racks outside of Noyer Complex and took it back after seeing it had several obvious resemblances with his bike. He said he continues to use a cable lock, but quality is important when shopping for a lock.
"I see a lot of people using bike locks that, with a pair of pliers, I could break off," he said. "Some of the nicer locks, you would have bolt cutters [to break them], and bolt cutters you can't just carry around in a back pack."
Jenn Goddard, Kinghorn Hall residence hall director, said while UPD provides cameras to help with bike protection, it is ultimately the students' responsibility.
"It's about students making sure they're taking up that measure of safety," she said. That's a personal investment. You should protect it."
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