Bend police arrest two amid rising tide of bike thefts

Bend has seen a rising tide of bicycle thefts this year – up 15 percent from last year – but active investigations have led to the arrests of two suspects in recent days, one caught twice with stolen bikes in the past two weeks, police said Monday.

Lt. Clint Burleigh said the department “has been focusing on recovering stolen bicycles and being proactive in preventing future thefts,” with more than 200 reported so far in 2015 (as of early August).

Back on May 21, a Bend resident reported their bike stolen downtown shortly after 10 a.m. The resident used the Bend Police online reporting system, Burleigh said.

Last Thursday, an officer on patrol contacted Melissa Leanne Johnson, 43, of Bend, near Walgreens at Northeast 27 th Street and Highway 20, and learned she had an outstanding arrest warrant.

The officer also learned Johnson was in possession of a stolen bike, Burleigh said. She was taken to the Deschutes County Jail, where she remained held Monday on $25,000 bail, facing second- and third-degree theft charges as well as two counts of methamphetamine possession.

Another Bend resident reported Aug. 18 that their bike, locked up in front of the Deschutes County Library on Wall Street, had been stolen that day between 3:15 and 4:40 p.m.

The next day, a Bend officer responded to a call of an unknown person scraping the serial number off a bicycle near Miller’s Landing Park at 80 Northwest Riverside Boulevard, Burleigh said.

The officer contacted Benjamin William Lamphere, 27, also of Bend, and learned he had the bike stolen from in front of the library. He too was taken to the county jail on charges of first-degree theft and second-degree criminal mischief, the latter for damaging the bike, Burleigh said.

On Aug. 21, a Bend resident reported his bike had been stolen three days earlier at 7 a.m. from in front of the Westside Tavern on Northwest Galveston Avenue, Burleigh said.

The officer was able to obtain security video and identified Lamphere as the suspect, the lieutenant said. Police returned to the Miller’s Landing area and found Lamphere there, in possession of another bike that was stolen but at the time unreported.

Lamphere was charged with the other bike thefts, though the one stolen from in front of the Westside Tavern has not yet been recovered. Lamphere was returned to the county jail, where he remained held Monday, Jail records showed he was held on $15,000 bail, facing one count of first-degree theft, two counts of second-degree theft and one count of criminal mischief.

Police investigating bike thefts said no connection has been found between the bike Johnson was in possession of and Lamphere’s bike thefts.

Burleigh said police have found some bike thieves have begun placing their own locks on a bike prior to stealing it, presumably to keep the user from leaving with it – then simply returning later, unlocking the bike (to no one’s suspicion) and taking it.

If you leave your bike unattended and return to find a lock other than yours on it, you’re urged to contact police through the dispatch non-emergency number at 541-693-6911.

Police also recommend citizens register their bikes with police, a process Burleigh said is quick and free of charge.

“When you register your bicycle, we will have all the important information needed to identify your bicycle, if it is stolen,” Burleigh said. He added, “The Bend Police Department encourages bicycle owners to take photos of the bicycle and serial number, for documentation purposes.”

Burleigh said police are “taking the increase of these thefts very seriously, as we are actively trying to curb the problem with bicycles being stolen.”