The staff at in Fairfax helped local police nab a suspected bicycle thief that has allegedly hit bike shops statewide and has been dubbed, the California Bike Bandit in a crime bulletin distributed by the San Francisco Police Department.
Jason Kurt Fashimpaur, a 41-year-old resident of Sausalito, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and using a forged ID by Twin Cities police and is being held on $15,000 bail at the Marin County Jail for a theft at City Cycle in Corte Madera.
Sunshine Bicycle manager Tony Merz said a man came the shop on Tuesday afternoon to test-drive a $2800 bicycle. Merz said that his identification was a temporary driver’s license without any photo ID attached.
“We take a photo ID and a credit card to hold, so one of our employees went out on the test drive with him,” said Merz.
The man left and came back later to try the bike a second time and was again allowed to test drive with an employee. “He brought the bike back because it was making a clicking noise and that was when one of employees recognized him from the flier,” Merz said.
While the man was waiting for the shop manager to work on the bike, Merz made a quick call to another bike shop in Berkeley, the Missing Link, and confirmed that the alias, "Cerri Kurtis," used on the identification was the same as the one used at that store in a bike theft.
Chief Chris Morin said they were notified and detained the suspect at Sunshine Bicycle while an employee of City Cycle in Corte Madera, another shop hit, made a positive identification.
Merz credits employee Emile Mulholland for making the connection to the crime bulletin photo and said it was a pretty exciting two hours in the shop. “We liked to think we helped out.”
He added that there have been a rash of bike thefts statewide and bike shops have been using email and Facebook to keep informed.
According to Merz, there have been other bike shops in Marin that have been hit by thefts, including Village Peddler in Corte Madera, California Bike-N-Bean in San Rafael and Classcycle in Novato. In the Classcycle incident, the shop owner chased down the thief with the help of a customer on a motor scooter.
In at least one of the cases that alleged thief was described as Hispanic, in his mid-20s, about 5-foot-9 with a slight build, with a black baseball cap covering his bald head.
“In the last few years, we’ve heard of a lot of bikes being stolen," Merz said. "Thieves take them out of the county and sell them elsewhere or they strip them and sell them for parts."
Merz attributes the uptick in thefts to the economy and, while he doesn't like to admit it, he said bikes are easy to steal and sell. He said bike shops are not the only targets — there have been increased residential thefts of bikes, as well.
He added that one customer said a bike was taken from his garage in broad daylight while his family was at home. “It’s a violation and it’s getting pretty scary.”
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