Brad Mitchell works downtown for Missouri State University. We’re in the same building. And we’d always park at the same rack on the southeast corner of the square.
Due to renovations now in progress, the racks have been temporarily removed. I’ve been parking on Patton Alley. Brad recently parked on South Street near the intersection at McDaniel — a busy part of down. And he was the victim of vandalism.
Here’s his story:
By Brad Mitchell
Last week I parked my bike on the U-rack next to South Ave. Pizza and Finnegan’s Wake in the morning, just before 8 a.m. I was in the office all day until 5 p.m., and I didn’t walk by or see the bike at all during the day. I came out at 5 p.m. to discover that someone had trashed it.
It appeared that they had taken a knife or screwdriver and jabbed it through both tires and tubes and destroyed them. It looked as if they stabbed through the tires and pulled up, literally ripping the tires nearly into two pieces. The back rim had also been kicked in, or smashed in, with some heavy object, and it was bent all to hell. It seems the back wheel and tire had the most damage; I couldn’t even push the bike down the street because the back end was so messed up, and I ended up having to carry it home. The front had less damage as only the tire and tube were destroyed. The back light, bottle carrier, and some of the reflectors were also broken off.
I’d previously been parking my bike on the U-racks on the Square, where my office window looks out. I always felt pretty safe because my bike has been locked up literally right outside my window, and I could keep an eye on it during the day. With the sidewalk construction on the Square recently reaching our corner, they ripped out the bike racks and haven’t put them back yet.
I noticed that even though the sidewalks have been done for months on the other corners of the Square, the bike racks were never replaced there either. So I’d started locking up my bike down the street on South Ave., out of sight, due to there being no more racks outside my office building, and that was when this incident happened.
Nothing like this has ever happened to me before; I’ve had bikes stolen but never had one randomly damaged for no apparent reason. Hopefully this was an isolated incident.
Yes, let’s hope this isn’t an indication of a larger problem.
I’ve parked all over downtown and have never had a problem. Am I just lucky or is this kind of vandalism rare? I checked the Crime Seen Map at the website of the Springfield Missouri Police Department. The map shows four reported incidents of vandalism within a few blocks of the Square so far for the month of July. The map gives no details about what kind of property was damaged.
Comments 9
This certainly is disheartening to me. That spot to lock up I thought was out in the open in a busy portion of downtown. I would never imagine someone trashing a bike in broad daylight in that area.
Posted 15 Jul 2009 at 12:18 pm ¶Jim… I’ve read that bicycle thieves prefer to work busy streets because all the activity spreads attention in many directions.
I’m thinking this is an isolated incident. But I’m also looking into it to be sure. I’ll report what I learn.
Posted 15 Jul 2009 at 12:26 pm ¶Bike parking in most buildings here is off to the side away from anyone’s view. There is an ordinance in place requiring all businesses to include bike parking. Most times, I lock up to a pole or tree in front of the main door. Since mine the only bike there, it is no inconvineance to people passing by.
At work, the bike parking is off to the side of the building but the area next to it is the Smoker’s Alley. So, bikes get a fairly constant attention.
If I work on a weekend, I lock it to a pole in front of the main door. We have security cameras covering that area. None of these two areas are visible from my desk.
Posted 15 Jul 2009 at 12:50 pm ¶Man, that’s awful. I’ve noticed how the racks in the square are gone and I’ve been wondering if the city is planning to replace them at all. I’ll be going back to work at the Park Central Office Building this fall and this is very discouraging news, as I was planning just to commute via bike each day.
Posted 15 Jul 2009 at 1:11 pm ¶Nate… The city is planing to install new ones, according to my source in the traffic division. I may be able to get more details at tonight’s advocacy committee meeting. I’ll report back.
Posted 15 Jul 2009 at 1:44 pm ¶That’s exactly where I lock-up when I work the door at Finnegan’s. I’d figure a group of drunkards after 2 am is about the riskiest scenario for parking. Raw deal for Brad.
One always tries to apply logic to something like this, but I doubt that delinquent is one for studying Socrates.
Posted 15 Jul 2009 at 1:58 pm ¶That was the most surprising to me as well – the fact that it happened in broad daylight, in the middle of the week in a busy area.
Also I hope this doesn’t serve as a deterrent to anyone planning on commuting downtown. You’ll be glad to hear that the bike has been repaired and I’m back to commuting every day (though it’s now locked up inside my office).
Posted 15 Jul 2009 at 3:08 pm ¶I can understand bike thieves in daylight… someone removing a lock (whether with a key or by cutting it) and getting on a bike and riding away may not attract that much attention, after all, most passerby don’t know who the bike’s rightful owner is. But violent attack like brad describes surely would attract attention, even if no one intervened…after all, I don’t know if I’d be willing to confront someone wielding a knife or screwdriver in such violent fashion. But surely someone _saw_ something.
I wonder if it would be a good idea to put up posters asking for people to report what they saw? Was a police report filed?
Posted 16 Jul 2009 at 7:12 am ¶Kelly… It is difficult to make sense of such things. I think your suggestion is excellent.
Posted 16 Jul 2009 at 7:52 am ¶