bike thief hit again 9:30 a.m.-ish June 29

[Noah]

The bike thief hit again 9:30 a.m.-ish today.

Details: From inside my home (8th Street) I happened to see a
slim, dark haired male, dressed in dark pants and
"athletic/muscle-type" T-shirt ride south on a bicycle. He was not
going fast. Seconds later, he reappeared headed north. Mere seconds
afterward he was headed south again holding a drywall-style bucket that
had a khaki tool "belt" attached!

Having seen a neighbor grooming my the lawn of my neighbor to the
north, I put two-and-two together... I ran out, got the attention of
the man cutting the yard, told him what I saw. He verified the loss of
his tool bucket from the back of this pickup truck and took off in
pursuit in the of the thief. The weasel/thief had rounded the corner
of 8th Street & Virginia (easy now with no roundabout, sob!), and
headed east on Virginia. I called 911, gave the details. The truck
came back, having followed the bicycle south on Richland. Realizing he
was being followed, the cyclist cut across some lawns and went west on
Sheridan. A police car was stopped by the truck driver, details given,
and the officer set out in search of the thief.

My neighbor returned, parked his truck and we set out on foot, east on
Virginia, looking to see where the bucket had been abandoned (the thief
was riding pell-mell, empty handed, when he was followed). I took one
side of Virginia and he, the south side. Lo! There a few feet south
in the alley between 8th Street & Virginia, was his bucket!!! Lucky!!

Policeman came to report having found a "shiny dark colored bicycle" at
8th Street & Palm, the rider seemed to have scooted into one of the
buildings around there. He was going to check some more; if anything
turned up, he'd contact us.

ALSO, while this drama was playing out, I found a some things I believe
to have been abandoned by the same "tourist". The officer is aware of
that, too.

Although this is a very lengthy account, I urge everyone to continue
keeping one eye constantly aware of the surroundings. If you do see suspicious activity please post it so we can keep everyone aware!!!