Stroller stolen in NE Bend; suspect caught on camera

A Bend woman is warning other parents about an apparent thief who stole her stroller, which was locked up outside her apartment.

At about 8 p.m. Sunday at the Crest Butte Apartments on NE Purcell Boulevard, Naomi Lodwig came home to find the double stroller she keeps locked at a bike rack was gone.

Lodwig looked at the surveillance tapes and found the whole process took over an hour. The man cut the bike lock securing the stroller, then took off with it, along with a kid’s bicycle.

Lodwig only has one stroller left now, and to replace the stolen one, she said she’ll have to spend $300.

She said she’s never heard of this kind of theft before.

“Car theft, personal belongings, mountain bikes that are worth major money, and here’s my stroller that’s a few years old and used very heavily with my children,” Lodwig said.

In the aftermath of the theft, she does not feel as safe as before.

“I do think about it a lot more,” Lodwig said. “I never had to think about locking my doors, but now it’s an everyday thing, making sure it’s locked.”

Police said the person of interest is a homeless man who the officer in charge of the case believes might use the stroller as a bike trailer. The stroller is a double jogger with gray and red trim.

Police also said stroller theft is more common than people would think, because much of it goes unreported, since it’s hard to distinguish one stroller from another.