Man smashed stolen truck into SLO bike shop in botched burglary, police say
A man smashed a stolen truck through the storefront of a San Luis Obispo bike store in an attempt to rob the business over the weekend, police say.
Around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, San Luis Obispo police officers responded to alarms sounding at Cambria Bike Outfitters at 1239 Monterey St., the Police Department posted on Facebook.
Upon arrival, officers found that a pickup truck had rammed through the glass storefront and backed up halfway into the business, the post said. The truck had been reported stolen from Santa Maria the previous day, police said.
According to the release, security footage from the bike shop showed a man driving the truck in reverse into the storefront, then loading bikes into the bed of the truck once inside.
He tried to drive away, but was unable to due to damage to the truck from the crash, police said.
Instead, the man unloaded one of the bikes from the truck and rode away on it, surveillance video shared with the post showed. The bike was later found abandoned several blocks away from the store.
The man was wearing gloves, a dark jacket, a beanie and a headlamp on the security tapes.
The case is under active investigation.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Police Department at 805-594-8037 or Crime Stoppers at 805-549-7867 to provide information anonymously.
Is this related to a previous SLO bike shop robbery?
Saturday’s attempted theft is very similar to another recent robbery attempt at a different San Luis Obispo bike shop.
On Nov. 2, a silver Chevy Silverado pick-up truck backed into Art’s Cyclery at 3988 Short St., Unit 110, smashing through the commercial door, glass windows, the front counter and knocking out the bike shop’s phone, computer and Wi-Fi systems. The store owner said the drivers were wearing black ski masks.
However, San Luis Obispo police public information officer Christine Wallace said the two incidents appear to be unrelated.
The suspects’ cars — though both pickup trucks — are “definitely different vehicles,” she said.
While police could not identify the license plate of the truck that broke into Art’s Cyclery, it appears to be a different make and model from the stolen Santa Maria truck used Saturday.
The suspects themselves were also “very different,” Wallace said.
“We’re not at a point where we think they’re the same people,” Wallace said.
