Berlin is the bicycle theft capital of Germany. E-bikes in particular are a valuable target for thieves. In mid-December last year, thieves turned their attention to the e-bike belonging to Maria B., who thought she had parked her pedelec safely in Berlin’s Spandau district. The thieves started tampering with her bike around 8 p.m. and presumably loaded the pedelec into a van since the bike was moving northwards at around 40 km/h just a short while later. It then came to a halt after about 6 km. The IT’S MY BIKE Bike Hunter Team continued tracking the GPS signal and immediately informed the police.

At first, the police were unable to find the bike at its reported location, but around a week later, the bike emitted a signal again. It was situated in the very same street where it had been appropriated a week before. There, the police encountered a suspect, who was loading some bikes into a van. Maria B.’s stolen bike was among them. The thief was arrested.

 

*Name changed by the editors

Image: Symbol image / Adobe Stock