Alleged high end bike thief in Austin arrested (xpost from Texas Regional)
 

On Tuesday, Austin police department did a raid on the home of a guy that is alleged to have been running a theft/chop-shop operation in Austin. He specialized in high end road, tri, and mountain bikes.

If you had bike stolen in Austin, you might want to check with APD. They are trying to reunite bike with their owners.

More on the story here: http://austinbikeblog.org/2009/02/04...ed-bike-thief/

http://austinbikeblog.org/wp-content...onbooking1.jpg

I was pretty amazed that someone would have a chop shop for cycles..... that is just weird and the fact that he was pointed out months ago on Craig's List.

The Austin Police Department just put out this statement:

Yesterday (February 3rd) detectives with the Austin police department executed 2 search warrants on James Clayton's residence as well as a storage unit that he was renting. At both locations they recovered a large amount of property, some of which has already been linked to crimes committed locally. Yesterday he was arrested on 4 counts, 1 of which was burglary of a residence in Travis County, and the other 3 counts were for larceny theft of bikes in Maricopa County, AZ. This morning a felony theft charge was filed on Mr. Clayton with regards to some of the recovered property. Add that to the previous 4 felony charges, and that's a grand total of 5 felonies with more anticipated as they process the property.

If you are a friend of acquaintance of James Clayton and believe you have been victimized in some way, please contact Detective Scott Askew with the Austin Police Department. Here is his information:

Detective Scott Askew - 512-974-5978

I bet Lance caught him.

"Lance Armstrong destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise."

More gems like these here: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/Slowtwit...Facts_P1985604

And you thought the lightly used parts on eBay came from where exactly?

What is the average value of a human powered bicycle? Maybe $300? I paid $400 for my bike. So your gonna chop shop $20 bucks of whatever at a time and think you'll make money. Hoping someone wants to buy 1 wheel or a $it saddle.

I just don't get it... ???

There was a case here in the Seattle area a couple of years ago where a fairly prosperous person (a podiatrist, I think) was allegedly stealing high-end bikes from bike shops during "test rides." He would then allegedly take the bikes home, dismantle them, and sell the components (frames, wheels, bikes) to people he met at races, group rides, etc. At least that's what was alleged; it never did go to court because the alleged perpetrator committed suicide during the investigation.

did you see the part about "high-end". These bikes retail for $3k-$8k. Not exactly $20.

He specialized in high end road, tri, and mountain bikes.


that's what the all powerful bike god wants us to believe

What?

No... I didn't see that.

HOW DO I HUNT down someone to steal a $6k bike toooo so called "chop shop" it?

I race sailboats and I've heard of one stolen nation wide in the past 5 years.

I guess my Alum LeMond Reno w/Tiagra/105mix and cheapy Alex rims would be safe.

check out this toronto thief, caught with almost 3000 bicycles and a whack of dope in his possession.

Do what he did hang out with racers and fast group rides, lots of 6k and up bikes. Finding high end bikes in Austin wouldn't be to hard if it is anything like DFW.

lots of people lose their nice TT bikes at tri transition points...

That is wonderful.

If this is the same one I am thinking of in Seattle, the guy was some sort of medical doctor.... whats crazy is how they caught him. They actually got a DNA sample off a cup of coffee he left at the bike shop when he bolted with the merchandise!

Yes, that was the case. I had forgotten the detail about the DNA. I think he was a podiatrist, with a troubled history. My memory is that during the investigation he was starting to talk about suicide so they institutionalized him somewhere (in a hospital?) for observation...and he committed suicide while in the hospital. The bike shop owners interviewed at the time said he came to the shops, was very knowledgeable about bikes, took bikes out for test rides and then disappeared.

Very sad.

I attended a press conference at Austin Police Department today with more info about this case. He had been stealing bikes since 2006 after fleeing Arizona on similar charges. They recovered about 20 bikes and parts worth $60,000.

Article with more is here: http://austinontwowheels.com/2009/02...james-clayton/

Looks like Clayton had an accomplice.

http://austinontwowheels.org/2009/02...ayne-severson/

http://austinontwowheels.org/wp-cont...okingphoto.jpg

scroll down to Feb 20.

http://www.innerviewslive.com/2008_shows.html


http://www.usacycling.org/results/in...pid=7098&all=1

Yeah, the radio interview you reference is bizarre. He sounds like a complete con man.

From what I have heard, alot of these guys will go to bike races and if they see a bike on a trunk rack, they will just cut the straps and stuff everything into a van. Total time = 10 seconds. My buddy had his rack cut from his car, stealing his and his dad's race bike :(

There was a correlation between bikes being stolen and James Clayton competing in races.

Rumor has it that Clayton used to go to triathlons all suited up like a competitor, find a high end bike he liked, jump in the water and swim a bit, jump out early, and ride the bike out of transition off the course to his car and drive off.

Looks like a pre-roid Tammy.