Antwerp police hope to reunite 100 stolen bicycles with their owners
Police in Antwerp are hoping to reunite 100 stolen bicycles that were found in a lock-up belonging to the proprietor of a cycle shop with their rightful owners. Photographs and descriptions of the bicycles that were recovered in the Berchem area of the city have been put onto the Local Police Service’s website in an effort to find their rightful owners. Last month another 50 stolen bikes were found at the cycle shop owner’s lock-up. He has been arrested.
Anyone that believes that their bicycle is among those that have been found can fill in a form on this website and the police will contact them.
The Antwerp Police Spokesman Wouter Bruyns told VRT News that he hopes that at least some of the bikes have been engraved as this will make it easier to find their rightful owners. If this is not the case anyone that says that one of the bicycles is theirs will have to prove that this is case by providing a proof of purchase or photographic evidence.
Antwerp Police advise all cyclists to get their bikes engraved and to report it to the police if they are stolen. Mr Bruyns told VRT News that a lot of people don’t bother reporting bicycle thefts as they believe that it isn’t worth the trouble. However, if a theft hasn’t been reported it makes it all the more difficult to reunite a stolen bike with its rightful owner if it is found.