Thief Steals Bike During Test Ride in Upper Haight, Then Comes Back for His Identification

I'll be back ... for my identification

​Some criminals just aren't that smart -- and this story is proof.

A 49-year-old parolee came into American Cyclery Too on Saturday afternoon to test ride a bike. The ex-con put on his best act, pretending he wanted to buy the $1,000 specialized hybrid.

He left his identification and credit card with employees, per the store's policies, and rode off into the city -- and never came back.

Until Monday.

Store owners told SF Weekly that they were shocked when the daring thief walked back into the bike shop on Monday afternoon -- sans the high-end bike --  and demanded his identification and credit card back.

They recognized him immediately and didn't hesitate to call police. But the persistent thief then tried to convince employees -- and the cops -- that it was his brother, not him, who had pedaled off with the bike. He had only come there to collect his credit card and identification that his brother had purportedly used.

Nobody was buying the man's story; he was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and parole violation.

"It was a dumb criminal who realized that he had given us his real identification," said one employee who didn't want to be named. "And he was foolish enough to come back."

This happens often at bike shops -- a seemingly interested customer will leave a fake identification or a stolen credit card and then steal a bike during a test ride.

But how often does that same criminal come back to fetch the personal documents left behind?

"Never," the store employee said with a tone of disbelief.

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