SAVANNAH, GA (March 31, 2011): Police have tracked down two teams of bicycle thieves and found five juveniles involved.
A 9-year-old and a 10-year-old were determined to be the culprits in one theft that may have led to the recovery of several bicycles.
A woman described the 9-year-old to police on March 21 as the child who stole her son’s bicycle from the 600 block of Liberty Street the previous day. Police took the boy to his residence where they found several bicycles chained together, including one matching the description of the one reported stolen. The boy told his stepfather a neighbor had given him the bike and implicated a 10-year-old as the thief.
Because of their ages, the boys were released to their parents.
A 16-year-old and two 15-year-olds were detained March 19 after Savannah College of Art and Design security officers reported seeing them attempting to steal bicycles two nights in a row from the Oglethorpe House dorm on Oglethorpe Street.
The security officers said the three had tried to find unlocked bicycles from a large number of bikes parked in front of the facility on March 18 and 19. The location has been the scene of numerous thefts.
When they could not find an unlocked bicycle the second night, they left and returned just after midnight with bolt cutters. The three walked away when security arrived, but were followed by one officer and stopped a few blocks away by a Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police officer. The 16-year-old had bolt cutters in his pants and one of the younger teens had a screwdriver.
The elder teen was charged with possession of a tool for the commission of a crime, criminal attempt/theft, loitering and prowling and curfew violation. The younger was charged with criminal attempt, loitering and prowling and curfew violation.
Downtown Precinct detectives are continuing to investigate to determine if any other thefts are involved and to determine if any of the other bicycles found have been reported stolen. This process is aided when bicycles have been registered with SCAD or SCMPD.
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