Skip to content

VIDEO: Sneaky cyclist scopes Coquitlam property in alleged theft

Coquitlam resident Leo Lee says the alleged theft is a reminder to neighbours that they should lock bikes, doors and windows when they’re away or asleep
alleged Coquitlam bike thief

Leo Lee woke up just before 6 a.m., flipping through emails as part of his morning routine. That’s when he saw the automated message from his motion-activated security camera that he’d installed when he moved in back in 2017. 

“I got a message that a suspect was entering my property,” he said.

He immediately tried to contact his tenants downstairs, but they, like his own family, were still sleeping. So he went to one of the bedroom windows to see what he could see.

When a man came rushing down the side of his house with a bicycle in tow, Lee said he yelled at him, “Stop! what are you doing?” but he just kept going.

 

As the morning wore on, Lee started putting the pieces together. When he reviewed the automated security footage, he realized the man had jumped a fence onto his property twice that morning, once before dawn and once just as he was waking up. 

He went downstairs to warn his tenants and their two young children of what happened. 

Then he contacted his neighbour, who said their tenant had also had a bike stolen that night, and a labourer who said someone broke into his truck, too. 

“It’s a really peaceful awesome neighbourhood,” said Lee, who noted an alleged rash of small thefts have popped up for the first time in the neighbourhood this month.

“Even though they are small crimes, it’s quite alarming to the neighbourhood,” he added. “That really scares us.”

Lee says the alleged theft is a reminder to neighbours that they should lock bikes, doors and windows when they’re asleep, at work or away on vacation.