Trek, Verve 2 or possibly Verve 3

Location

Location

6114 N. Winchester Ave (apartment building)
N. Winchester Ave.
Chicago , IL
United States

Date of Theft

Tuesday, August 11, 2015 - 8:15pm

Basic Bike Info

Bicycle Type: 
Hybrid Bike
Serial No.: 
Unknown
Size: 
Pretty large
Color: 
White & Silver
Condition of Bicycle / Distinguishing Features: 
The nut at the very center of the handlebar is badly rusted, from sitting outside in winter. The chain and gears probably also show signs of wear / corrosion. The bike has a KryptoLok series 2 Standard (I'm pretty sure that's the exact model) U-lock attached to the post between the handlebars and frame. The lock was not defeated; bike was stolen during momentary distraction. So unless it's been subsequently defeated, the lock should still be there and nobody but me has the key to open it.

Owner Information

Owner Name: 
Michael Serra
Contact Email: 
Email hidden by Chicago Stolen Bike Registry. Contact the CSBR staff to email the owner.
Contact Phone Number: 
815-218-8410

Lock Information

How was the lock defeated?: 
Other situation, please describe below.
Lock Type: 
No Lock
What was the bike locked to?: 
Bike not locked.
How was the bike locked?: 
Not locked.

Incident Description

Which type of area was your bike stolen from?: 
Front of building in residential area.
How long was the bike locked in this location?: 
It was not locked - I did not have time to lock it before it was stolen.
Incident Description: 
I know exactly what happening. Normally I lock my bike to a street sign in front of my apartment building - 6114 N. Winchester Ave, in Roger's Park. I arrived home as it was getting pretty dark. As I was about to start locking the bike, three black children (they seemed about 10-14) pointed at an outdoor cat and said "Is that your cat?" In the dark, the cat kinda did resemble mine, so I immediately went to the cat to examine it. Probably 20-30 seconds passed, and when I returned my bike, and all the kids, were gone. I promptly walked to Emmerson Park, where I saw three kids who might have been the same ones. When I approached them, they ran. One tripped, and I asked him where my bike was - he said it was taken by the other two kids, not him. I suspect these kids live somewhere in my neighbourhood, but I've no proof and I probably couldn't identify any of them.

Recovery Information

This bike was recovered: 
No