This is how you lock a bike

​Bike theft in the Upper Haight and Sunset District is so commonplace that one more just doesn't feel worth reporting. However, this particular bike burglary struck us as being chock full of life lessons. 

According to police, a resident of the 1200 block of Seventh Avenue reported his bike stolen from the unsecured common space of his apartment complex. The resident reviewed surveillance from the complex and saw the man who took his bike.

The victim drove around the neighborhood, looking for the man and his bicycle, and sure enough spotted man with bike in front of the McDonald's on Haight and Stanyan, according to police reports.
 
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This is the stolen bike

​The only thing more infuriating than sharing the road with cars is having your bike stolen and being forced to become another car on the road.

Just once, wouldn't it be great to catch those a-holes in the act of cutting your lock and pedaling off with your wheels? The Mission District Police Station has offered up the next best thing to catching the crook in the act: A surveillance video that shows a complete asshole making off with someone's bike from the Walgreens at 30th and Mission streets.

Check it out:More >>

ANALYSIS:

Dionette Cherney

​Randolph Ang was just like the majority of bike riders riding down the Embarcadero in San Francisco. He disregarded the law by blowing through a red light. Ang flew into a crosswalk because he was, well, in a hurry and, well, everyone does it. But unlike many riders, he killed a woman with his vehicle (yes, state law says a bike is a vehicle and riders must follow traffic laws).

In many communities the citizens would expect jail time for manslaughter whether it was an accident or not. But in this one, politics and tradition came into play, and Ang is reportedly getting off with community service in a plea deal with the District Attorney's Office.

But these facts remain: A tourist from Washington, D.C., Dionette Cherney, is dead; Ang knowingly broke the law, and ultimately that act killed her. In my mind, he needs to do some time if for no reason than to send the message that breaking the law and killing people in San Francisco is not to be tolerated, whether you do it with a bicycle, car, or bus.
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Car vs. truck

​(Update 2 p.m.): Officer Albie Esparza informs us that the victim was treated at San Francisco General Hospital and is doing just fine. The woman was not wearing a helmet when the truck driver rolled through a stop sign and hit her.

(Original story 9:10 a.m.) A 39-year-old woman is in critical condition this morning after she was hit by a postal truck while pedaling through the Richmond District yesterday afternoon.

Police say the woman was riding her bike down Clement Street at about 3:48 p.m. when she was hit by the trucker, who was driving northbound on 18th Avenue.
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For the most part, San Franciscans look favorably on Critical Mass, the monthly brigade of well-intentioned cyclists pedaling through the streets together. Well, except for this guy below.

Tami Twarog

This man has strong feelings about cycling in general

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​Cyclists plagued by ongoing bike theft in the Haight will be happy to know that police have finally busted a man they claim is likely responsible for a rash of bike thefts in the area.

On Jan. 19, officers saw a man casually riding a bike out of a garage on the 300 block of Broderick. According to Park Station police, it was clear the man had just cut the lock off the bike prior to riding off. However, when officers ordered him to stop, the man just continued pedaling.

The cops managed to chase the suspect down; when he finally stopped, his wig fell off, revealing his head of blue hair.
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Here's one way to earn $100...

​Tara N. built that bicycle himself when he was a teenager. It had sat, dormant, in his parents' garage in San Jose for the better part of 22 years. And, not three weeks after he rescued it and planned to fix it up here in San Francisco -- someone broke in and stole it.

So Tara wants his bike back. But he'd like a little more, too.

"$100 reward for the return or information leading to the ass kicking, I mean arrest, of the scum bag thief," reads Tara's eye-catching posters, which he's affixed near his home on Alamo Square.

Tara notes that, no, he doesn't really want to fund the beating of his victimizers. But it did feel fun to write it that way. "That's in thought only," he says. "But, in theory, I would like to see them in the public stocks out in Union Square. Maybe we could throw tomatoes at them."

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Scary Angel

​San Jose investigators say they have "credible evidence" that Steve Ruiz, the Hells Angel who is suspected of killing a fellow member of the biker gang, was spotted in San Jose over the weekend.

San Jose Officer Jose Garcia told reporters that Ruiz was seen sometime Friday or Saturday and that he is known to have connections in Gilroy, Campbell, and Fremont.  "We believe he's in any one of those cities," Garcia said. "If anyone aided him we will arrest those individuals and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."
 
Police have been on a widespread manhunt for Ruiz, 38, who is suspected of shooting and killing Steve Tausan during a funeral service for Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew at Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose on Oct. 15.
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This is not the actual bike involved in the collision

Randolph Ang faces manslaughter charges

​Randolph Ang, 23, pleaded not guilty today to charges of vehicular manslaughter after he allegedly blew a red light, killing 68-year-old Dionette Cherney this summer.More >>

post election charges

​Update: District Attorney's Office responds. Read after jump.

Four months after a cyclist blew through a red light on the Embarcadero, killing 68-year-old Dionette Cherney as she walked across the street, the District Attorney's Office has brought charges against the biker.

Randolph Ang, 23, has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter after he collided with Cherney as she crossed the street on July 15. Cherney, a tourist visiting from Washington, D.C., suffered a serious head injury and was on life support for a month before she died from head trauma.

Ang faces a maximum sentence of a year in jail if convicted, according to the DA's Office. More >>