DIY crime fighters try to roll back bike-theft epidemic



less Shayanne Martin leaves for work with her bicycle, which was stolen and returned to her by a woman who spotted it being ridden after seeing it posted on Bike Index, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 in San Francisco, Calif. Shayanne Martin leaves for work with her bicycle, which was stolen and returned to her by a woman who spotted it being ridden after seeing it posted on Bike Index, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 in San ... more Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close DIY crime fighters try to roll back bike-theft epidemic 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

When her bicycle vanished one night, Shayanne Martin assumed it was long gone — gone to wherever bikes in San Francisco go when their locks are cut or their wheels yanked off. Maybe to a chop shop. Maybe sold online.

She’d left the Trek 1400 on UCSF’s Mission Bay campus. She used a U-lock and a cable and figured it would be nearly impossible to saw through both, and was proved wrong.

It’s a common story. What’s unusual is how it ended.

Days after the theft in November, a woman saw a heavyset man riding Martin’s bike, which has an extra-small frame. It didn’t seem like a good fit.

The woman, who corroborated the story but asked that her name not be used, looked closely and recognized the bike from a photo Martin had posted on Twitter. So she flagged the man down, bought it for $60 and returned it to Martin — whom she’d never met.

Martin was the beneficiary of a burgeoning subculture. Frustrated by bike thefts that are increasing in the city and rarely solved by police, a community of about three dozen volunteer vigilantes has popped up, according to bike activist organizations and the police.

These do-gooders don’t know each other, but sometimes they share information about stolen bikes online. They pore over listings of vanished bicycles, including the website and Twitter account of a nonprofit called the Bike Index where people can register their two-wheelers and report them stolen. If they see a bike on the street that matches a listing online, they’ll try to buy or even steal it back for its owner.

“As soon as I posted online that it was stolen, people started conversations with me,” Martin said. “I had no idea there was this whole community fighting bike theft. It’s crazy.”

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Shayanne Martin holds part of her bike lock which was left behind...

Reported bike thefts in San Francisco more than doubled from 2006 to 2015, from 412 to 1,051, before dropping to 759 in 2016, according to the state Department of Justice. But many more thefts go unreported.

A 2013 report by the city’s legislative analyst estimated that 4,085 bikes worth $4.6 million were stolen in 2012, with the downtown and South of Market neighborhoods the hardest hit.

Victims “assume little can be done by the Police Department to recover their bicycle,” the study said. Of bikes that are reported stolen, only about 16 percent are returned to their owner, police figures show.

“There’s nothing you can do,” said Bryan Hance, co-founder of the Bike Index. “You can call it in and say you got robbed, but the truth of the matter is, not a goddamn thing is going to happen after that. It’s a universal experience, for sure.”

He said people are “starting to take an active role because they feel like no one else is.” He acknowledged that bike rescues are rare, saying, “It’s a needle in the haystack. But when a bike is found, it’s magic.”

People like Chris Jewett, 36, are the ones who make it happen. Jewett says he’s never had a bike stolen in the city. He doesn’t even own a bike.

But Jewett lives in the Mission, where about 10 percent of San Francisco’s bike thefts occur. He said he got sick of walking past the chop shops.

“I didn’t like what I was seeing,” Jewett said. “It was getting out of control. It’s just outrageous. I started doing what I could.

“Every time I walk outside, I go past 10 stolen bikes. You can either do nothing or try to make a positive change. I don’t have any illusions about changing crime in the city. But at least I feel like I’m trying.”

Jewett said he has recovered 40 to 50 bikes for owners by buying or stealing them back. At one point, he said, he had 15 to 20 recovered bikes in his basement. Some of them he turned over to the police. Others, he posted online, and the owners were reunited with their two-wheelers after they could describe them to Jewett or give a serial number.

Sometimes grateful owners try to give him money, or bake him sugar cookies, or invite him over for dinner, Jewett said. He said he’ll accept food, but not money.

“I feel weird about that,” he said. “How do you know I wasn’t the one who stole it? Now I’m getting money for it? If I can just find a few bikes here and there, it makes me feel like it’s not hopeless. I enjoy it. It’s kind of like a sport.”

Jewett says he doesn’t steal bikes as often as he once did. He says he is too recognizable, and that’s dangerous. One time the owner of a chop shop hit Jewett over the head with a bike fork. In a photo, a medic wraps his head. Blood gushes down the side of his face and soaks his shirt.

That’s one reason police advise people not to do what Jewett does.

“We highly, highly recommend that people do not put themselves in a vulnerable position,” said Officer Giselle Linnane, a San Francisco Police spokeswoman. “You don’t know who specifically you’re dealing with when you’re trying to take a bike back. It can be unsafe, and you can get into an altercation. If something like that happens, it becomes another issue.”

Some police stations have officers devoted to investigating bike thefts, and Police Chief Bill Scott has unveiled plans to station property-crimes investigators at all 10 stations. A police Twitter account, @SFPDBikeTheft, used to be a source of help where officers posted photos of pilfered two-wheelers. But the officer who ran the account was promoted, and now it’s rarely updated.

Among the challenges police face is that they often can’t confiscate a suspected stolen bike unless it has a serial number through which a victim can prove ownership. Owners are urged to upload photos and serial numbers to a website called SAFE Bikes, run by a nonprofit group and the Police Department.

Also, responding to a bike theft is a lower priority for police than, for example, a shooting or a home invasion. Still, Linnane said police do the best they can.

“If we come across a stolen bike, we really try to find out who the owner is,” she said. “The most important thing is to file a police report.”

It was Melissa Davies’ own stolen bike that got her hooked on searching out others’ hot wheels. A police report didn’t bring much help, she said. But days later, Davies found it for sale on Craigslist and bought it. Since then, the 36-year-old has helped with five bike rescues.

“It’s the most awesome feeling,” she said. “For those of us that ride a bike, nothing comes easy. We are marginalized on the streets. It’s fostered this community spirit where we rely on each other for all sorts of things. You feel powerless when your bike gets stolen. But through social media, there’s a huge potential for people to get them back.”

Recently, Davies saw a stolen bike on the street. It was thrown into the back of a pickup truck, and a little mangled, the way bikes are when their locks are cut or twisted off.

She snapped a photo and tweeted it. “Anyone missing this?” she wrote. There was no immediate reply.

“With every recovery story,” she said, “you get more and more addicted.”

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn