Missing: e-bike sawn from a fence

On a Friday afternoon at the end of September 2021, Arne from Leipzig chained his e-bike to some railings and went to buy a newspaper. When he returned, he couldn’t believe his eyes. “The fence was ripped through and my bike had vanished without trace,” he says. Fortunately, the expensive e-bike was fitted with a GPS tracker from IT’S MY BIKE. He had purchased the bike just last year, as his previous one had also been stolen. Without a tracker, it would never have been seen again. Using the app, he reported the theft to IT’S MY BIKE Customer Service, who called him back immediately. “The IT’S MY BIKE team sent me a livetracking link, to help the police in their work. With this, officers were able to follow the thief’s trail all the way.”

 

Found: a transshipment centre

After a short while, the GPS signal was transmitting so accurately that the location of the missing bike could be narrowed down to a precise address in Leipzig. It was some workers’ lodgings. The IT’S MY BIKE team immediately notified the police, who sent plain-clothes officers to the scene. Hardly had they arrived when they spied a man with Arne’s bike coming out of the building. They could easily identify the e-bike thanks to the photos that had previously been sent. The man was apprehended and the bike forensically examined on the spot. Subsequent DNA samples from the perpetrator and the stolen item provided all the evidence they needed. “The police returned my bike to me that same evening,” reports Arne, happily. “Thanks to the GPS tracker, the fast reaction from Customer Service and the seamless flow of information from me via IT’S MY BIKE to the police, my bike was found on the very same day.” Arne was completely satisfied – but not so the police. They suspected that there were more bikes at the lodgings and therefore obtained a search warrant. For several hours, officers combed the entire building. And what do you know, their suspicions were founded: three expensive e-bikes and large quantities of bicycle parts were discovered and secured, and one person was taken into custody. Police suspect that the lodgings were used as a transshipment centre.

 

Image: Iconic / Adobe Stock