Bend man arrested on theft, other charges after locked BMX bike cut off back of vehicle

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend man was arrested on theft and other charges early Friday, accused of cutting off a lock and stealing a BMX bike from the back of a vehicle and riding away, police said.

Officers responded shortly before 2 a.m. to the reported bike theft in the area of Northeast Fourth Street and Vail Avenue, police spokeswoman Sheila Miller said.

The victim said a man cut off a lock and stole his black BMX 20-inch bike from the back of his vehicle, then rode it into a nearby Albertson’s parking lot, Miller said.

Police saw the 34-year-old suspect riding the bike in the area when he stopped on Fourth Street to speak with a woman standing next to an SUV. The suspect admitted taking the bike, Miller said, but claimed it originally was stolen from him. When officers patted him down, they found bolt cutters in his pocket, she said.

He was charged with second-degree theft, second-degree criminal mischief and a felony probation violation.

The woman, meanwhile, sped away from the scene and made an unsignaled right turn onto Penn Avenue, Miller said. Police found her nearby and arrested her on suspicion of DUII-drugs, and unlawful possession of a firearm (a loaded handgun).