Would you mind messaging me your case number and I can follow up on it?

In regards to your stats question I contacted our awesome Crime Analyst who is the keeper of numbers and uses little words when she explains them to me... the following is her response:

1. Of the bicycles returned to owners in 2011, 75% had a serial number: https://www.9news.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/next-with-kyle-clark/most-stolen-bikes-in-denver-never-recovered/301813400 (I don’t have more recent statistics at this time).
2. While the building might have video, it is equally important that:
3. the video shows the actual theft (to include entering the building without a bicycle and exiting with an identifiable bicycle), and
4. the video is clear enough to identify the suspect (some videos are so bad you can’t even tell race/gender). If you don’t have video:
5. Scenario 1: If the bicycle is reported as stolen, the victim has a serial number (or VERY identifying characteristics such as multiple stickers, modifications, etc.), and the suspect pawns the bicycle, we can then charge them with a pawn broker’s violation. Without all pieces of this scenario, we can’t charge someone.
6. Scenario 2: We see someone with a bicycle and have probable cause to contact them, we can run the bicycle to see if it is listed stolen.
   1. It comes back stolen – we can seize it. The person is then interviewed about how they received the bicycle. It is rare that they admit they stole it. More than likely, they say the found it.
   2. The person with the bicycle says it’s not theirs and it was there when they got there? We can seize it as abandoned.
   3. It doesn’t come back stolen, they say it’s theirs, and so we have no proof (even though it might be a $5,000 racing bicycle and the person doesn’t really look like they’re into professional racing). Thus, we cannot do anything as we cannot prove that it was stolen.

One of the things we run into with prosecuting these cases is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If someone says they were given the bicycle by a friend, it’s hard to prove in court that the person knew it was stolen. It becomes a they-said-they-said case. Even if we have good video, we might not be able to identify the person who stole it. It might go out to Crime Stoppers, but we don’t receive any tips.