University Police arrested a man following reports of a string of bicycle thefts on campus.
Sgt. Kirk Denning reported seeing two suspicious men at a Heritage Halls bicycle rack around 4:45 a.m. Jan. 18. Denning and two other officers stopped and identified the men.
Since Oct. 1, 2020, 27 bicycle thefts have been reported at the BYU campus, leading to increased surveillance by University Police.
“I saw two men walking around the bicycles in one of the racks and looking at different bicycles as if they were shopping,” Denning said in the probable cause statement.
One man, a 36-year-old from Pleasant Grove, Utah, matched the description from surveillance of a campus bike theft from Jan. 11. The suspect had an active warrant for trespassing and drug possession and had a hatchet, bolt cutters, illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia on him, Denning said in the incident report.
The suspect was booked into the Utah County Jail in connection with a bicycle theft using bolt cutters to remove the lock to a bike valued at more than $1,000. The suspect was also booked for the possession of class I and II drugs (methamphetamine and heroin), possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of burglary tools.
University Police Sgt. Jeff Long said the second suspect in the case was released after being given a verbal trespass warning.