‘Irreplaceable’ e-bike stolen from Victoria non-profit recovered at Topaz Park

A Victoria non-profit has got its stolen bike back.

Capital Bike‘s electric cargo bike was stolen from outside its Hillside Avenue office, but in a turn of events, the two-wheeler was recovered Wednesday at Topaz Park.

Executive director Adam Krupper told CHEK News the e-bike, called ‘The Whale,’ is Capital Bike’s “everything bike,” so to have it stolen was a “devastating” loss.

“Someone in the community found it and reported it to the police. It’s in pieces, but it’s repairable, so it’s a pretty decent outcome,” Krupper said in an update.

Capital Bike’s neighbour captured video of the brazen theft, which happened around 5 a.m. Tuesday. The thief was seen grinding away at locks before making off with the bike just minutes after it was chained to a bike rack along Hillside.

“We had not only one but two locks. And not cheap locks. These were expensive, premium, $200 locks,” said Krupper.

Later that morning when he discovered the bike was gone, he took to social media pleading for anyone with information to call Victoria Police.

“To lose a bike like our cargo bike, it’s our vehicle. It’s our organization’s vehicle,” said Krupper hours after the theft. “It’s something that, for us, is irreplaceable. Not just the work we put into it but financially.”

At 1:33 p.m. Wednesday, one Twitter user posted photos of the bike discarded in bushes at Topaz Park less than a kilometre from where it was stolen. 

While Krupper’s happy the bike is back where it belongs, he says thousands of dollars in repairs are needed to get it road ready again.

“We got a quote for the repairs and they’re estimated at being around $2,500, so we’ve set up a CanadaHelps fundraising campaign, if people would like to help us get it going again!” he added.

Capital Bike’s fundraiser is online here.

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