Don't Steal a Bike From Cincy Bike Shops

By Geoff Thielmeyer


On Monday, July 20th everything started off as a normal day at Team Cycling and Fitness. Greg Thielmeyer, the owner, started his work day assembling a Trek 7.3 FX hybrid bike that had been sold to a customer. When he finished the bike he put it in the warehouse where all assembled bikes are kept. This area is the furthest away from the garage door. Around 7:00pm, Greg went to show the bike to another customer that was interested in purchasing one also. After going through the warehouse and not being able to locate it, the conversation went something like this:

“Hey Kyle, have you seen a 7.3 FX in the warehouse or have you moved one?” asked Greg.
“No, haven’t seen one.” said Kyle.
“What about you Geoff?” Greg asked again.
“Nope haven’t see one back there either,” said Geoff.
After determining it must have been stolen, Geoff commented, "I cannot believe someone walked to the back of the warehouse and stole that bike. They walked right past my Gary Fisher Superfly and a Trek 7.6 FX which was worth a lot more money and just randomly decided to take a 7.3 FX!”
Too tired to deal with it after a long day, Greg replied “We'll worry about it in the morning”.
On Tuesday, July 21st Geoff sent an email to all of the bike shops in the Cincinnati area letting them know that they had a Trek 7.3 FX stolen the day before from their warehouse. In the email Geoff wrote, “Like most dumb thieves, he will probably come to someones store today trying to sell the bike. If that happen please give me a call.”

Not 2 hours later, Steve from Fast Wheels called to say that the bike was just in his store and the guy left going south on Montgomery Rd. He also said, “I'll call the Norwood Police and see if they can stop him. I didn't read your email until after the guy left but hopefully they will catch him.” Geoff thanked Steve for his time and effort.

After hanging up the phone, Geoff called the Colerain Township Police to file a report. The officer arrived at noon and left at 12:15pm with the report. Five minutes passed and a phone call was received from the Newport Police.

“Hi, we are here with Jason Reser from Reser Bicycles. He said that you had a Trek bike stolen from your store.” the officer stated.
“Yes we did.” said Geoff.
“Have you made a police report?” said the Officer.
“The Colerain Police Officer just left with the report.” Geoff replied.
“Give me his name and the phone number of the Colerain Police.” said the Officer.
“Yes, the cop that took the report was Officer Ashworth and here is his number...” said Geoff.
“Thanks I will call you back” said the Officer.

At 12:45 the Newport Police Officer called back and asked the price of the bike.
Geoff stated that it retailed for $639.99.
Excitedly, the Officer stated, “Great, that is a felony in the state of Kentucky! You can come pick your bike up at the Newport Police station.”

Geoff picked up the bike from the Newport Police and stopped by Reser Bicycles to thank Jason for calling the Police.
Jason related the story as such: “I was eating lunch and Sarai came downstairs to tell me that the guy with the stolen Team Cycling bike was just in the store. I jumped on the fastest bike we had and started riding around town. I found the guy loading the bike on the bus. I stopped the bus and confronted the guy. He said he didn’t steal anything and started walking/riding away. I called the police while I was chasing him and after what seemed like forever, they came and arrested him. When it was apparent the thief wasn't getting away, he punched me in the face causing me to drop my phone!".

What is amazing about this whole story is the fact that within 24 hours Team Cycling and Fitness had their bike back because of one email and great bike shops working together.

Geoff's proclamation - “I would advise all shops to create a email group of all of the shops in the area for events like this. I sent an email out at 9:00 a.m. and within 4 hours we had our bike back. Truly unbelievable!"

Thanks Jason for everything you did. We greatly appreciate it.
Thanks Steve for letting us know what the guy looked like and your effort in trying to get him caught.
Thanks Newport Police for arresting the guy. Not only does he get a felony but Kentucky has jail space unlike Cincinnati.