Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com

Published - Tuesday, June 24, 2008

West Salem Police Department to peddle bikes

By MATTHEW PERENCHIO | Assistant editor

The West Salem Police Department hopes to match bicycles with new owners as it will be selling unclaimed and abandoned bikes on Saturday.

The bike sale will be held on June 21 from 8 a.m. to noon at the village’s storage facility at 850 West Ave. N., near the public works garage and Anderson Mobile Home Park.

Police Chief Charles Ashbeck said the sale hopes to give people the opportunity to purchase a bicycle inexpensively while freeing up storage space. He said there are between 35 and 40 bikes dating back to 2004 that have been deemed as “abandoned” that the police department has kept in storage. Every so often, abandoned bikes in storage are disposed of in order to make room.

“We just have been colleting bikes for some time now,” Ashbeck said. “We decided instead of junking them, why not try to sell them for a very minimal cost. It’s a pretty cheap way to get a working bike.”

The bikes will be in three categories. Bikes in poor shape that can be salvaged for parts will be $5. Bikes that are in fair shape and may need some repair will be $10. Bikes that are in good condition will be sold for $15.

Ashbeck said the police department recovers about 20 bicycles a year, which are either turned in to the police department or found by police officers. In about five of those cases, bikes are returned to the rightful owner while the rest are placed into storage until someone can claim them; eventually, the unclaimed bikes would be thrown away after some time.

Ashbeck said the majority of bikes for sale are adult bikes, although there are some bikes for adolescents, including “trick” bikes. He said bikes recovered but unclaimed in 2008 won’t be sold because the owner may still come forward.

The sale will also promote registering bikes with the police department in an effort to help reunite owners with lost or stolen bicycles. The WSPD normally registers bikes for a $1 fee, but all bikes sold on Saturday will be registered for free. In addition, anyone wanting to register a bicycle currently owned can do so during the sale and the fee will be waived.

Ashbeck said bike registration has been one of the department’s priorities. When a bike is found and it is registered with the department, he said the owner can be contacted and the bike can be returned quickly.

“It really helps us out,” Ashbeck said. “It is very simple to do. When a bike comes in it’s so easy to look up the number and call the person and boom — they can come down and get their bike.

“If we can get them back to their rightful owner, that’s our goal.”

Ashbeck said he hopes to use the money generated from the sale to purchase new bicycles for the police department in community patrolling. He also said that if the bike sale is successful, he hopes to hold something similar in the future on a regular basis.

He also noted that if someone recognizes a bike being sold as their own, the department will set the bike aside and the person will need to provide proof of ownership.

AT A GLANCE