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Copenhagen bike shop owner arrested as hundreds of stolen bikes found

Customer recognised his own bike for sale in shop

Police in Copenhagen have arrested the owner of a bike shop and charged him with handling stolen goods after discovering his business had hundreds of stolen bikes for sale.

They were alerted to the operation after a man recognised his own bike for sale in the shop, which is located in the Nørrebro district of the Danish capital, reports thelocal.dk.

Police spokesman Sajjad Haider said: “We could establish that it was the informant’s stolen bicycle and when the officers looked around the shop they could quickly see that it was full of stolen bikes.

“There were Christiania bikes, expensive bikes and cheap bikes. We’re not completely finished counting them, but the amount of stolen bicycles is somewhere between 250 and 400.”

The 35-year-old man who was arrested could face up to six years in prison, although officers have not yet established exactly how he had so many stolen bikes in his shop.

They added that many of the bicycles discovered had had their registration plates removed.

Official data reveal that some 60,000 bicycles are reported stolen in Denmark each year, but only 400 of those – less than 1 per cent – result in criminal charges being brought.

Last year, a survey by the insurance company Alm. Brand revealed that one in six Danes – 17 per cent – admitted having stolen a bicycle.

Often, the bikes are taken by young people looking to make their way home after a night out.

Law professor Sten Schaumburg-Müller told Metroxpress: “There are many people who at one point in their youth have stolen a bicycle late at night to get home from a night out. And maybe they’ve stolen a bike that looked a little bit run down.

“Bike theft is something that is difficult to solve. But it’s also clear that if an area is consistently under-prioritised, that will have an effect on the magnitude of the problem,” he added.

Bike theft costs Denmark’s insurance industry some 200 million kroner each year, however, and Alm. Brand spokesman Mikael Sundby said: “I don’t think cycle thieves think about the consequences for the individual [bike owners] or for society.

“They probably just think that it’s merely a bike that can be easily replaced.

“But it’s not pocket change that our society is losing every day, and it is frustrating for those it affects.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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alansmurphy | 8 years ago
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I thought my wife had offered me daily sex in a recent note but it turns out she thinks I have dyslexia...

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Bob's Bikes | 8 years ago
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I thought it was the California Highway Patrol for dyslexics  35

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Dnnnnnn replied to Bob's Bikes | 8 years ago
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FATBEGGARONABIKE wrote:

I thought it was the California Highway Patrol for dyslexics  35

Or Combined Heat and Power.

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Guernsey Donkey | 8 years ago
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CPH is the IATA code for Copenhagen Airport. Just as AUH is Abu Dhabi  1

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CygnusX1 replied to Guernsey Donkey | 8 years ago
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Guernsey Donkey wrote:

CPH is the IATA code for Copenhagen Airport. Just as AUH is Abu Dhabi  1

All very well whilst the code bears some resemblance to the city in question, but breaks down when you have a story in say Toronto (YYZ).

By this logic, shouldn't all stories about London use LHR or maybe LGW (neither anywhere in London)? Of course you could use LCY but hardly anybody else does.

Stop being lazy, road.cc

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KirinChris | 8 years ago
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When did we decide that CPH was instantly knowable as Copenhagen?

AUHChris

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Airzound | 8 years ago
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And there was me thinking Denmark was cycling heaven. Not if you haven't got a bike because it's been stolen.

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