When Sattar Khoshkhoo went to retrieve his bike three months ago after parking it behind Powell Library, he was surprised to find it missing.
Khoshkhoo, a third-year bioengineering student, discovered both the bike and lock were gone.
“It was just so shocking to me,” he said. “(My bike) was behind Powell locked to the bike rack, one of the most crowded places on campus in the middle of the day.”
Khoshkhoo immediately called university police to tell them what happened, but he had not written down his bike’s serial number, so there was little police could do to help.
“Even if they found it, it’s not like they could have been sure it was mine,” he said.
He checked eBay for a week, on the off-chance that his bike was listed for sale. No luck.
“Usually you hear about a lot of bad things happening to other people, but you’re not worried about it ever happening to you,” he said. “I mean, this was something I totally could have seen coming, but I just didn’t think it would happen.”
A rise in bike thefts this month has made it apparent that the pedestrian-filled walkways, stair-covered hills and car-clogged streets of UCLA are not the only deterrents to on-campus bikers this summer.
Since the beginning of the year, 150 bikes have been reported stolen on campus and in Westwood, according to data compiled by Kristi Godines, a university police crime analyst.
As of July 30, UCPD had received word of 26 stolen bikes for the month, which is a particularly high number considering that 22 bikes were stolen each month on average over the past year, Godines said.
News of the bicycle thefts has been particularly harsh for students like Khoshkhoo, who have become used to depending on their bikes for transportation.
“Having a bike saves you a lot of time, and as a UCLA student, time is more precious than money,” Khoshkhoo said.
Since the theft, the trip from his apartment on Veteran Avenue has gone from five minutes biking to 20 minutes walking.
Khoshkhoo said he will likely use some of the money he has earned from past jobs to purchase a new bike, although he won’t spend as much as he did for the last one.
Matt Ellis, manager of the campus security officer program, said the high number of bike thefts this month is likely a result of increased demand.
“The big issue right now is that there seems to be a good market for stolen bikes, and people are willing to fill that market,” Ellis said.
Although UCLA is not immune from the growing trend of bicycle theft, there are ways to prevent theft and potentially recover stolen bikes.
Godines said the best way to prevent a bike from being stolen is to use a bike locker.
Registering a bike with the National Bike Registry provides the best chance of recovering a stolen bike, she added.
“A registered bike is easy to track and recover because the National Bike Registry database can be searched by police using the serial number stamped on the bike by the manufacturer,” Ellis said.
Although he did not register his last bike, Khoshkhoo said will take the extra precaution of registering his next one.
He added that he plans to invest in a U-lock for his next bicycle, rather than purchase a cable lock, which is less resistant to high-leverage hand tools such as bolt cutters.
Khoshkhoo said having his bike stolen has changed his outlook on campus safety.
“I considered the UCLA campus to be one of the safer places you can be, and I generally felt safe about leaving things in places for awhile,” he said. “But when something like this happens, that whole idea is shattered.”
Khoshkhoo, who has always considered himself to be a cautious person, said he has become much more careful since the theft.
“I don’t even leave books around at Powell anymore,” he said.
Students can register their bikes with the National Bike Registry online or visit the UCPD office for assistance.
The registry has limitations, though, because it can only help recover stolen bikes, Ellis said. UCPD needs the help of students to prevent bike thefts.
“If people on campus see someone tampering with bike locks, call the police. We’re going to respond as quickly as possible, because this is a growing problem,” he said.