Thefts in the district of Ebersberg: One bicycle per day

Created: 01/15/2023 13:11

By: Josef Ametsbichler

A bike is stolen in the county every day.

This is confirmed by the figures from the police inspections.

© DPA

Bicycle theft is a daily problem in the district of Ebersberg - action is required everywhere.

But how?

S-Bahn stations are the most common crime scenes.

District

– Every day someone steals a bicycle somewhere in the district of Ebersberg.

This is not a bold estimate: the Poing police report 250 cases in their service area for the year 2022, the Ebersberg office 95. Makes 345 pieces, which is statistically enough for almost one on each calendar day without any unreported cases.

The statistics fall in the year in which the Ebersberg district officially received a certificate as a "bicycle-friendly municipality in Bavaria" from the Ministry of Transport.

Apparently, many a contemporary extends this enthusiasm for bicycles to other people's property.

Bicycle theft: Mostly at the train station

kidding aside.

The S-Bahn stations are the clear focus for bicycle thefts, as both inspections agree.

"Most of them are opportunistic thieves," said Poinger police chief inspector Markus Stocker of EZ on request.

It starts with the night owl, who grabs an unsecured bike for the last few meters and throws it in the field on the corner of the street in front of the front door.

"But we also suspect organized criminal gangs," Stocker continues.

An indication of this is when bicycles are carried away with the lock and loaded into a vehicle.

But that a whole bunch of wheels come off at once: "We don't have that phenomenon."

E-bikes are very popular with thieves

But there are certainly cases, adds Ebersberg's police chief Ulrich Milius, in which thieves dared to reach into an unlocked garage or a garden shed.

Especially when an e-bike lures as prey.

They are currently very trendy, but according to the police, they account for a small proportion of bicycle thefts, in the low single-digit percentage range, according to Poing, for example.

"It's not so easy to leave an e-bike alone," says Stocker.

And Milius adds: "These are not classic station bikes, they are better secured and locked away."

But the damage in the case of theft is all the greater.

Because such a pedelec often costs 2000 euros and more, thieves usually aim to sell their loot.

Not everyone is as amateurish as a Kirchseeoner who wanted to sell a stolen bike via a classified ad on eBay at the end of 2021 - and instead of a prospective buyer had an Ebersberg patrol in front of him when he opened the front door.

"It was easy for us," says police chief Milius when he talks about the case.

Both inspections also emphasize that cyclists are checked again and again.

For example, if the rider's appearance doesn't match the bike or the seat height setting suggests that the bike isn't your own.

Even asylum accommodations have already been checked, reports Milius.

A bike thief cliché that is sometimes tried that cannot be confirmed in this way.

It becomes difficult when the bikes are transported abroad by van.

"A good bike is just as in demand there as it is here," says Milius, referring to the regular successes of his colleagues in random checks in the border area, especially to the east.

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Only ten percent of stolen bikes are returned to the owner

Overall, Poinger chief inspector Stocker estimates that only about ten percent of the bikes find their way back to their owners.

But that's not just because, once they've been stolen, they don't appear again.

The officials let it be known that some theft victims insisted that their bikes were locked because the insurance company would then pay.

Whether that's always true: hard to say.

"Once the money has flowed, people are no longer interested in the bike," says another person who is familiar with the matter.

What many also don't know is that bicycles that cannot be assigned to an owner end up at the lost and found office of the municipality in which they turned up.

They are kept there for six months before they are sold, scrapped or given away for a good cause.

The officials point out that it could be worth asking the communities within cycling distance.

Online search for the stolen bike

What even fewer people know: quite a lot of municipalities in the district also offer this service online – you can find it on the portal freistaat.bayern, search term “found things”.

Locking is better than locking is a simple rule of thumb against bicycle theft.

Police officers emphasize that a proper lock deters most thieves.

"One traffic sign is often enough," says Poinger Chief Inspector Markus Stocker about safe connection options.

Chain the frame, not the front wheel.

"It just has to be better secured than another," says the policeman dryly about classic train station theft.

With e-bikes, it also makes sense to remove the battery and display to reduce the potential sales value.

If a theft does occur, police chief Ulrich Milius is often surprised at the thin reports of the loss.

As a precaution, writing down your own frame number is the minimum and makes the search immensely easier.

And taking a photo of the bike, as well as individual details such as modified handlebars, saddle, stickers or damage.

"Some people take pictures of every meal so they can post it online," Milius says.

"But documenting your own bike - hardly anyone thinks about it." 

Back to the subject of a bicycle-friendly district: the district office also knows that cycling is not only about driving, but also about parking.

That connecting is safer than locking (see box), too.

"There are already exemplary bicycle parking spaces, but there is still room for improvement in some places," says the district's bicycle traffic officer, Alexandra Holzfurtner.

She sees the municipalities, but also the retail trade, employers, innkeepers and leisure facilities as having a duty to create convenient facilities where cyclists can park theft-proof.

This may also include the arrangement of bicycle parking spaces in new buildings by municipal statute.

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