Politics & Government

Cut and Run: Bike Theft at the La Grange Train Stations

Bike theft is a common crime at both Metra stations in La Grange. What are residents saying, and how is the village responding?

Every morning at the Stone Avenue and La Grange Road Metra stations, commuters arrive on their bikes. They dismount, find a space in the crowded bike racks and lock up before waiting on the platform for their train to arrive. But a worry for many cyclists who commute to the stations is whether their bike will still be there when they return.

Each week in the La Grange police reports, another bike is stolen from its spot at the station.  La Grange Patch regularly reports on these thefts and publishes the reports in our coverage of the police department’s daily activities.

For one La Grange resident, seeing a total of four reports for stolen bikes in a two-day period from the train stations was the last straw. So, he wrote a letter to the editor.

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Ryan McNally, of La Grange, said he began biking to the train station in 1998. Since then, he’s had two bikes and a bike seat stolen from him while he was in the city at work.

“I use two locks now,” McNally said. “I’ve got the biggest lock of any commuter at the station.”

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The first time McNally said his bike was stolen, he was using a cable lock to secure it to the bike rack. The second time, he had upgraded to a U-Lock, but thieves were able to break it open using a car jack. 

NcNally said he is just one of many commuters who are fed up with worrying about the safety of their bikes while they are left at the stations, and wonders if the village of La Grange and Metra are doing enough to help protect resident’s property and discourage theft. 

Police say bike theft difficult to stop, need commuters to do their part

La Grange’s chief of police, Michael Holub, said the department is doing it’s best to police the commuter stations and prevent bike thefts, but that it’s no easy task.

When asked about bike thefts in early August, Holub said he thought the department had probably received about eight bike theft reports that week alone.

“We’re down there all the time,” Holub said. “But [La Grange has] a very active, highly utilized train station. If someone wants it bad enough, they’re going to get it.”

According to Holub, it only takes about 12 seconds to cut a common wire lock and toss a bike into the back of a truck. In fact, that’s exactly what the police department has seen and received reports about it being done.

In addition to regularly patrolling the area, the department also does bike theft stings at the train station, but the force simply does not have enough officers to watch the stations at all times. Residents need to help the department protect their own property, the police chief said.

Curbing bike theft important to keeping residents biking

For residents like Ryan McNally, getting a good lock and properly securing your bike, are up to the biker to do. But, he said he’d like to see a bigger effort from the village as well.

“It just seems like there’s no deterrent,” McNally said. “To me it’s really simple, [the Village] is not doing enough.”

For McNally, the number of bike thefts at the La Grange train stations are enough to turn people off to commuting by bike—something he believes the Village should be supporting.

"It's good for the environment, it's good for your heath and it cuts down on traffic," McNally said. "There could be a lot more bikes there if some action was taken."

When his first bike was stolen from the station, he reported it to police. But, he said, he was less than thrilled with the department's response.

"It was like they didn't care," McNally said.

According to Chief Holub, only about one stolen bike in five years has been returned to the owner. Most are never seen again. Many times when someone reports a bike stolen, they don't even know they day it was taken.

"They will go down on the train for a Cubs game and then not pick it up. A few weeks will go by and then they'll report it stolen," Holub said of the difficulty in hunting down stolen bikes.

For his part, McNally said he understands that the department can't police the station at all time, and that bikes will be stolen from time to time. But, he said, the shear number of stolen bikes at the station should encourage the department to do something more about it.

"Anything at all," McNally said. "Right now it seems like they're doing nothing."

McNally suggested creating a locked bike corral where commuters could purchase a key, putting a camera on the bike racks, or even just a sign.

Chief Holub agreed those were good ideas, but said that the bike racks were on Metra property, and someone would be needed to monitor the camera. His suggestion: buy a cheaper bike for your commute.

The La Grange Police Department does offer a program to put and record a serial number on your bike. While it doesn't help protect it, it will help the department file a report quickly, and allow you to file a claim with the insurance company if needed.

But for bikers like McNally, something more still needs to be done: 

"It just seems like common sense. If there's this much theft, they should be looking into it, and looking for a way to stop it."


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