So many bike thieves were pedaling away from a popular bicycle shop that cops had to grab the closest young men while the rest raced away.
That was the scene around 12 a.m. Wednesday as the Devil’s Gear Bike Shop was burglarized by a large group of teenagers, according to police.
Now Matt Feiner (at right in photo), who has owned and operated the store on Chapel Street in Wooster Square for the last eight years, is tabulating the cost.
A group of teens smashed in the shop’s basement door and lifted at least 15 bikes, Feiner said. He estimated the total loss at over $15,000. The loss is covered by his insurance, he said.
The burglary happened after the breakup of an underage party at R Bar, on East Street, just two blocks away from the bike shop.
Here’s what happened, according to Feiner and a police report:
With R Bar holding its weekly teen night on Tuesday, and Wednesday a school holiday, the police posted several officers near R Bar, in case the scene got out of hand. Around midnight, hundreds of teens left R Bar as the event broke up.
Officer Rich Burgos started heading down Chapel Street. He noticed that a large group of teens leaving the bar had smashed a window at the Devil’s Gear. The teens were pulling out bikes.
Burgos called for backup. As police arrived at the scene, the burglars scattered.
Eight to 10 officers arrived and “tried to grab as many [burglars] as they could, but they weren’t able to grab them all,” said Lt. Luiz Casanova.
Cops arrested six teens. They are 16 to 18 years old, Casanova said. One of the arrestees had narcotics on him, he said.
Feiner was woken up by a phone call reporting that his burglar alarm had been triggered. When he arrived at the shop at 12:30 a.m., he found 10 patrol cars, a half-dozen teens in handcuffs, and bikes everywhere.
Feiner approached one teenager, in handcuffs in the back of a squad car. The suspect looked to be about 17, and scared, Feiner said.
Through the open car window, Feiner introduced himself as the owner of the bike shop.
“I’m a righteous man,” Feiner said. “Why are you stealing from me?”
“I didn’t steal it! I was just riding it!” the teenager responded. “My friend handed it to me through the door.”
On Wednesday morning, Feiner shook his head in amazement as he recounted what the teen had said.
Almost 12 hours after the robbery, he and store manager Mitchell Dubey (at left in photo) had not yet calculated how many bikes were gone. Feiner said he felt “a little numb.”
The burglars grabbed several bikes closest to the smashed door, Feiner said. They also ventured further in, walking past a $6,000 racing bike to grab five BMX bikes hanging on hooks. They made off with one bike that was in for repair.
Cops were able to recover eight bikes, including a Yale security bike that was also in for repair.
As he prepared to install a metal grate to reinforce his newly installed glass door, Feiner quoted the daily horoscope he had received that morning by email. “Today is a good day to direct energy into a construction project.”
I love the Devil's Gear and am saddened that this happened to them! May they bounce back quickly!