It seems that their have been a series of burglaries at homes along bike trails in North Arlington. The article doesn't mention which trails but I suspect the Custis Trail is one.
Arlington County police are investigating a series of daytime burglaries of homes that are located close to bike trails.
There have been 23 break-ins since Aug. 24, mostly in North Arlington, and most recently on North Kensington and North Quincy streets, Arlington County police spokesman John Lisle said. Most of the burglaries occurred during the daylight hours, between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., leading police to believe that the burglars are targeting houses after watching the residents leave, or they could be knocking on doors to determine whether anyone is inside.
If it turns out the thief is using the bike trails, that could look bad. NIMBYs always argue that bike trails will bring crime and I always find that assertion to be fear-based not fact-based. I still think it is. In fact I suspect that bike trails probably reduce overall crime - eyes on the street bring safety - bu this could be a case that people hold up. It's hard to prove crime was averted without an exhaustive study.
WaPo covered the story as well with some added details...
Recently, Estes said, many of the break-ins have occurred near bike trails, which might provide a getaway route. One neighborhood that has been hit in recent weeks is Arlington Forest, a cluster of about 850 houses off Carlin Springs Road and near the W & OD Trail.
At least I know that I'm free of suspicion.
the thieves are sophisticated, Estes said
There are so many trails in Arlington it's hard to live far away from one....How near is "near"?
In the Post article, it is mentioned that items taken in one burglary included "laptops, an MP3 player, a mountain bike, jewelry and a TV" and in others "video games, stereo equipment, laptop computers and jewelry have been stolen." I can see running or riding down the trail with jewelry and small loot, but not computers and TVs and stereo equipment. [I know, the burglars must use a bike with a Burley trailer to make their getaway.]
Doesn't make sense to me, but then I'm not a detective.
Posted by: Nancy | February 23, 2007 at 02:08 PM
I think they would prefer the BOB Yak or Ibex. Less rolling resistance and easier to squeeze through barriers during pursuits.
Of course the Burly would provide excellent cover as people would think there were kids in it, not my long-lost Nakamichi tape deck (sigh).
Posted by: Wonger | February 23, 2007 at 03:02 PM
The Custis Trail and some sections of the W&OD parallel I-66. Makes me wonder why the article singled out bike trails. After all it's a whole lot easier to make a getaway with the loot on I-66 than on the W&OD.
Posted by: John | February 23, 2007 at 04:10 PM
It's funny that people argue that bike trails and transit bring crime, but you rarely hear people claim that roads (like the ICC) bring crime. I bet there are more car-based thieves(especially organized ones) then train, bike and bus based thieves all put together.
Also, they're clearly using some massive panniers and a basket on the front.
Posted by: washcycle | February 23, 2007 at 04:46 PM