DNA trail led cops to unlikely bike theft suspect

[F8th637]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...ethief22m.html

Wow, just . . . wow.

DNA trail led cops to unlikely bike theft suspect

By Jonathan Martin

Seattle Times staff reporter

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Reed Sillers, co-owner of Speedy Reedy Multisport in Fremont, allegedly victimized twice by Jacob Bos, has posted stringent new rules for bicycle test rides.

On a drizzly day last February, a young, athletic man in hospital scrubs walked into a triathlon-supply store in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood and said he wanted to buy a very expensive bicycle, and right away.

The man said he was an oncologist, and he looked and talked the part. So the staff at Speedy Reedy Multisport set him up with a $6,800 road bike and a helmet, and he sped off for a test ride on the Burke-Gilman Trail, leaving just his name, which he said was Tony.

He also left behind a Tully's coffee cup — with "Jake" written on it.

When neither the bike nor the man returned, the store called Seattle police. They took that coffee cup and tested it for DNA, which traced back to an unlikely suspect: Jacob J. Bos, a respected 35-year-old podiatrist from Longview.

Police and prosecutors say they have connected Bos to a string of high-end bike thefts stretching across the Northwest. And in doing so, they have left his friends and colleagues befuddled at an apparent secret side to the avid bike racer.

The thefts have also jarred a clubby community of elite cyclists who once considered Bos one of their own. Now once-trusting cycle shops all over the area are going as far as to photograph customers before they grant test rides on bikes than can cost more than a lot of used cars.

"This is like a brilliant kid who has another life," said Dr. Richard Kirkpatrick, who owns the Longview medical clinic that employed Bos. "Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, it seems to me."

A hidden felony record

Bos is charged in Cowlitz County Superior Court with 12 counts of possessing or selling stolen bikes. He has pleaded not guilty. While out on $5,500 bail, Bos has twice attempted suicide, once by trying to slit his wrists and drive his car into the Kalama River, which resulted in his being detained at a psychiatric hospital in Vancouver.

Neither his attorney nor his father, who flew up from Texas to attend to his son, returned calls seeking comment.

Bos, a native of Utah, arrived in Longview in early 2006 to work in a satellite clinic run by a prominent Portland podiatrist who caters to athletes. Bos had all the right credentials: a degree from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine and a residency at a top hospital in Columbus, Ohio, according to the application he submitted for a Washington podiatrist license.

And even though some of Bos' job wasn't glamorous — such as giving annual foot exams to diabetics — he was skilled and had a good bedside manner, Kirkpatrick said.

"He was an incredibly detail-oriented person," Kirkpatrick said. "He had professional satisfaction, solid income, a great girlfriend, a very satisfying professional-level hobby. Why would anybody do that?"

Apparently, what few in Longview knew was that Bos had a felony record in Ohio. In January 2006, a month after Washington gave him a license, he pleaded guilty to theft in Columbus for using another man's identity to buy furniture on credit, according to Ohio court records.

Bos was sentenced to two years of probation; in March 2006 he paid $1,500 restitution and the probation was terminated.

Nonetheless, he was required to tell the Washington Department of Health about the conviction, but he never did, said spokeswoman Allison Cook.

About the same time, Bos started showing up at bike races in Oregon and joined the Three Rivers bike club in Longview. Police say he sold three stolen bikes to members of the club.

On the bike club's Web site, Bos is seen in a picture at an event, holding a Cervelo R3, an elite road bike.

It's the very bike he pedaled away from Speedy Reedy last February, Seattle police allege.

"A smooth operator"

Because of the Ohio conviction, Bos' DNA was in a national database that the Washington State Patrol crime lab used to link him to the Tully's cup.

Seattle police say they got lucky with the DNA test, but Longview authorities believe Seattle cops put a priority on the case.

"Seattle's a big bike-riding area, and I think they took offense," said Kevin Sawyer, a Longview police detective assigned to the case. "A lot of prosecutors and cops ride bikes, and it was one of their things."

Even as police were investigating the Fremont theft, one high-end bike after another was vanishing during test rides. In March, a $4,500 bike was ridden away from a Tacoma shop. In June, a $6,000 bike was taken from a store in Portland. In September, a shop in Bothell lost a $5,800 bike.

Bos even returned to Speedy Reedy in Fremont, according to charging papers in Cowlitz County. In December, he managed to ride off on a $5,500 Scott Plasma by talking store co-owner Reed Sillers — who wasn't on duty during the first theft — into another test ride.

"He knew what he was going to do, and knew he had us completely snowed," Sillers said. "He was a smooth operator."

"We assume better of people"

When Seattle police arrested Bos at his Longview podiatry office in mid-January, officers recognized a pair of pedals on an elite road bike, behind Bos' desk, which he used to commute, according to police reports.

The pedals were distinctive: They had come from the Cervelo R3 taken from Speedy Reedy. And the frame had been stolen from another Seattle bike shop, Triumph Multisport, just two days before police arrived.

The three bikes Bos allegedly sold to bike-club members were seized by police. When officers searched his garage, they say, they found five more stolen bikes. One was a $6,500 mountain bike taken from a shop in Utah, where Bos' ex-wife and two children live, police said.

The rash of thefts has bike enthusiasts feeling stung.

"We're a little isolated in some ways, and if you're riding a lot of miles, you're in the club," said Fred Clemens, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers Association. "It could be the bike shops were less diligent than they could because of the level of trust in the club."

In Seattle, John Teeters, the owner of Triumph Multisport, said he won't be burned again. "We're a really small shop and know most of our customers by name, and for years," he said.

"We assume better of people. Now, I don't care if it's my brother. It's 'Sign here, give me the driver's license and credit card.' "

[mimitabby]

um, you left out an important piece of information. He's dead!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/...le_thefts.html

Longview podiatrist charged in bicycle thefts commits suicide

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONGVIEW, Wash. -- A popular podiatrist who was charged with stealing about $55,000 worth of expensive racing bicycles in Washington, Oregon and Utah has committed suicide at a hospital.

According to a police report, Jacob J. Bos, 35, hanged himself Friday night in his room in the psychiatric ward of St. John Medical Center at Longview. Two certified nursing assistants found his body Saturday morning, police reported.

Bos, 35, had been released on $5,500 bail while awaiting trial in Cowlitz County Superior Court on nine counts of first-degree possession of stolen property and three counts of trafficking in stolen property.

He was admitted to St. John Medical Center on Feb. 7 after attempting to kill himself by overdose, according to a police report. Bos also tried to commit suicide on Jan. 22 after being questioned by Seattle police, cutting his forearm and trying to drive into the Kalama River.

A hospital spokesman said Sunday he could not comment on procedure with patients who have previously attempted suicide.

[IFjane]

Oh my - what an unbelievable story! This guy was truly sick......

[F8th637]

Oh wow, goodness! I guess he was finally able to do himself in. Thanks for the follow-up directly from Seattle.

[rij73]

Incredible! What a strange story...

[Zen]

Wow. just wow.

We make potential adopters leave their drivers license when they take a dog out for a test walk

[MM_QFC!]

This is, understandably, an active topic of discussion on Seattle area boards...and many wonder, as I do, why a facility supposedly specializing in treating psychiatric illness would allow a patient - especially one who has recently made several known attempts to take his own life and who is in BIGtime professional and legal trouble - to be alone with the means to hurt himself? He hung himself with a belt??? Come-on people??!!!

[MM_QFC!]

Wow. just wow.

We make potential adopters leave their drivers license when they take a dog out for a test walk

Yep, it seems that they've unfortunately learned to not be so trusting...

..."We assume better of people. Now, I don't care if it's my brother. It's 'Sign here, give me the driver's license and credit card.' "

[Running Mommy]

HOLY SMOKES!!!

And yeah, WHY would the hospital let him have a BELT??!! OY! They let him take the easy way out by killing himself...
Of course there is the upside of the tax payers not having to pay for the trial and housing him in jail...

[mimitabby]

and he won't be stealing any more bikes!

[Dianyla]

and he won't be stealing any more bikes!

I have to admit, this was my first thought.

[Beane]

It's unbelievable that a psych hospital would allow anyone on a unit with suicidal patients to have a belt.

We've always had to leave driver's licenses when test riding (even crappy bikes).

the whole story is pretty strange..

[IFjane]

HOLY SMOKES!!!

Of course there is the upside of the tax payers not having to pay for the trial and housing him in jail...

The thinning of the herd....

[MM_QFC!]

I think that I also assumed that he was left alone, and with a belt, since the report says he hanged himself, but I do not know for sure that it was with a belt. At any rate, if he had tried on 2 other (known) occasions to kill himself, and was an in-patient in a psychiatric facility, wouldn't it be a given to assume that he was on some sort of suicide-watch and that such a facility would have a staff trained in suicide prevention procedures? Like, he wouldn't be left alone or with any item that he could use to hang or harm himself? If I was someone who knew a current patient at that place, I'd be telling them to transfer ASAP!

Also, I have to distance myself from some of the comments here, in respectfully disagreeing, while still cherishing our diversity of opinions and feelings on TE. Yes, I sure would be outraged and hopping mad if he had stolen one of my bikes, however I can't equate a human life ending with some sort of short cut to justice. He was a sick, sick guy, for sure and his professional and personal life were in ruins with all of those felony convictions pending, however I see it as more of a human tragedy and, per my comments above here, really have strong feelings about the lack of professional care and vigilance he received at a so-called specialized facility with "trained staff"...whew! Not said to upset anyone or ignite any controversy or angry responses...just sharing my $.02, as that's what we should all feel comfortable doing in this forum, ok?

[mimitabby]

no, Mary; you're right. I was being callous in an attempt to be funny. I surely didn't wish him dead.