black hole of bikes! nytimes

[mimitabby]

In a Cyclist-Friendly City, a Black Hole for Bikes
By IAN AUSTEN

TORONTO — What exactly was he planning to do with 2,865 bicycles?

That is just one of many questions the police and others have been puzzling over since the arrest last month of Igor Kenk, the owner of a used-bike shop here.

Mr. Kenk’s legacy now fills a former police garage with a leaky roof. Organized by brand name and mostly resting on their handlebars, wheels pointed upward, are 2,396 of the bicycles that police say Mr. Kenk either stole or arranged to have stolen.

The jumbled collection of bicycles suggests that Mr. Kenk is the unofficial world champion of bicycle thieves. But as he awaits trial next month on 58 charges related to theft and drug possession, the biggest mysteries of all are Mr. Kenk’s motives and his ultimate plan for the armada of steel, rubber and aluminum he amassed.

“He’s easily the most hated man in Toronto,” said Alex Jansen, a filmmaker who has been working on a documentary about Mr. Kenk for more than a year as part of a study of his rundown neighborhood’s transition to hipsterdom. “But I just found that it’s not as black and white as I originally thought.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/wo...canada.html?em

[TxDoc]

Oh my God!
What are they now going to do with all of those bikes? A public auction?

[aicabsolut]

I feel like they ought to give people who reported their bike stolen a chance to get it back...

[Aggie_Ama]

The article says they have 17 days of open to the public viewing and 450+ bikes are already back with their rightful owners.

[Trek420]

The article says they have 17 days of open to the public viewing and 450+ bikes are already back with their rightful owners.

That's probably the people in the photo. Anyone in the area going there keep your eyes open for a '96-97 Trek 420, green to purple fade.

[ginny]

bike thievery makes me so mad/sad! I don't understand why it doesn't carry as high a penalty as stealing a car. People just love their bikes and often, people use them as their principle mode of transportation. JERK!

[GLC1968]

I just read about this on another forum. I think this is the likely explanation considering that he also had a stolen bronze statue in his possession:

"Inspector Evans speculates that he was playing the commodities markets, waiting for another spike in metals prices before melting down the bicycles."

I really hope more people are able to find their bikes in that mess and get them back!

[Aggie_Ama]

bike thievery makes me so mad/sad! I don't understand why it doesn't carry as high a penalty as stealing a car. People just love their bikes and often, people use them as their principle mode of transportation. JERK!

Well since the article also states he got busted with a lot of crack, cocaine and marijuana in his possession at least he will be getting a big sentence.

[TxDoc]

Well since the article also states he got busted with a lot of crack, cocaine and marijuana in his possession at least he will be getting a big sentence.

Yes, and really makes me wonder what in the world was he planning to do with all of those bikes???

[madscot13]

bike thievery makes me so mad/sad! I don't understand why it doesn't carry as high a penalty as stealing a car. People just love their bikes and often, people use them as their principle mode of transportation. JERK!

for a cyclist comitting a traffic offense, speeding, running reds, etc, the penalty can be equal to committing the violation in a car because a vehicle on the road is a vehicle on the road. I think it should go both ways; people who steal bikes should receive the penalty for stealing a car. they did steal someone's vehicle.