By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Brooke Powers got off her bright green Huffy at Excursion Park and immediately locked the bike to a flagpole.
She said she has never had her bike stolen in Sea Isle City and is determined to keep it that way.
“I just lock it up all the time. I mix up the lock combination all of the time,” said Powers, who lives in Philadelphia and spends her summers in Sea Isle at her parents’ vacation home on 57th Street.
Bike theft is considered a “crime of opportunity” in Sea Isle and other shore communities during the peak summer tourism season. For instance, someone leaving a store, a bar or the beach may not want to walk home, so they will swipe the nearest bike instead and then abandon it once they reach their destination, Sea Isle Police Chief Anthony Garreffi said.
In a simple step to reduce theft, Garreffi has a few words of advice for bike owners to help thwart thieves: Buy a good lock.
“Locking it up with a combination or key lock is the best deterrent,” he said in an interview Friday.
A bike rack is filled at Excursion Park.
Although social media is filled with photos of supposedly missing or stolen bikes in Sea Isle, Garreffi said bike theft is actually down dramatically this summer compared to last year.
So far this summer, 37 bikes have been reported lost or stolen, compared to 73 at the same time last year, he said.
“One of the reasons is that more bikes are being locked up and taken care of,” Garreffi said.
He also believes that another major factor in the decline in bike theft is the rising popularity of e-bikes. E-bikes require a key to start and are more difficult to steal than regular bicycles, he pointed out.
“There’s been a significant change from pedal bikes to e-bikes. It’s not going anywhere unless you have a key,” he said.
Each summer, scores of bicyclists descend on Sea Isle to take advantage of the gorgeous weather when they are on vacation.
Owners often leave their bikes – unlocked – on the pathways to the beach. Sea Isle’s oceanfront Promenade is another area crowded with bikes, as is the downtown district.
Sea Isle Police Chief Anthony Garreffi urges bike owners to lock their bikes.
Garreffi said there is no particular hotspot where bike theft is rampant. But the Promenade, the downtown bar district and the Wawa at 38th Street and Landis Avenue are some of the more common areas for bike theft, he added.
Charges for bike theft range from a disorderly persons offense to a third-degree crime, depending on the value of the bike. Penalties range from fines to possible jail time.
Garreffi is convinced there are no organized bike-theft rings operating in Sea Isle. Most times, it appears to be simply a crime of opportunity – someone swiping an unlocked bike for a ride home, he said.
Bike theft in Sea Isle usually doesn’t happen at homes, underscoring the effectiveness of placing bikes inside the house, the garage or a locked shed to keep them safe, police say.
Bike owners can also help themselves and police by keeping a record of a bike’s make, model and serial number and any distinguishing features such as the color or special markings. All of that information can be registered with police as a safeguard in case a bike is stolen.
Stolen or abandoned bikes recovered by police are stored by the city for six months. If the owners do not reclaim them within six months, the bikes are auctioned off each May by the city.
Until they are auctioned off – or reunited with their rightful owners – the abandoned bikes remain in the evidence room underneath City Hall. The owner of a stolen bike may contact the police department to see if it is being held in storage.
E-bikes like this one on the Promenade are harder to steal and may be contributing to the decline in bike theft this summer.
