'Our bikes were right there': 3 stories of theft shared by Toronto cyclists

This week CBC Toronto explored bike thefts in the city using new data obtained from police and took a look at a potential tool to fight the problem.

Bike thefts are on the rise in Toronto, with only about one per cent of stolen bikes recovered in 2016. There's also a rising number of bikes stolen in break and enters and from apartment and condo buildings, which you can check out for yourself using our interactive map.

• Explore the worst Toronto neighbourhoods for bike theft on our map
• Could an app solve Toronto's bike theft problem? It's helping Vancouver
• Toronto bike thefts 'at crisis levels,' as only 1% were recovered last year

As the stories rolled out, many cyclists reached out to us with their own experiences and frustrations dealing with bike theft in the city.

Here are three of their stories.

Amelia Merhar

Bike stolen from: Church-Yonge Corridor (third worst neighbourhood for bike thefts)

Stolen: February 2017

Amelia Merhar's custom-painted bike was stolen on the street outside Ryerson University in February. She never expected to see it again.

So when Merhar came across the bike she'd toured the Yukon and B.C. with locked outside a store in the Junction two months later, it was definitely a surprise. 

"I was so shocked to find my bike," said Merhar.

She says she went into the store and asked a woman if the hot pink bike outside was hers. The woman said it was and Merhar explained that it was actually her stolen bike.

I'd like to think I'd give someone their bike back if I had it and found out it was stolen.- Amelia Merhar

The two women exchanged numbers and texted back and forth a lot, but ultimately Merhar says the woman was unwilling to give her the bike back. Even though Mehrar says the woman didn't deny that the bike was originally Merhar's.

The woman, Merhar said, had added a bunch of new parts to the bike and made it clear that after the work she put into it she now considered it hers. 

Merhar filed a police report and provided the woman's phone number. She says police have never contacted her to update her or return the bike. She's disappointed not only in the police, but also in the fellow cyclist.

"I'd like to think I'd give someone their bike back if I had it and found out it was stolen," Merhar told CBC Toronto.

Joshua Henderson

Bike stolen from: Bay Street Corridor neighbourhood (second worst neighbourhood for bike thefts)

Stolen: August 2017

Joshua Henderson considers himself part of the "one percent" of cyclists who recover their stolen bikes.  He reported his bike stolen to police after someone broke into his condo locker in August and he got it back two days later.

The thing is, police weren't really involved in the recovery.

After realizing that someone had taken his bike, among other items, Henderson says he quickly jumped on Kijiji to look for it. He found it listed for sale and set up a meeting with the guy who had it.

Henderson says he knew the Kijiji guy was the thief because the photos of the bike provided on Kijiji were taken inside his storage locker. He provided all of this information to police, and asked them to come to the meeting he'd set up.

Henderson says police told him to postpone the meeting, so he did. When he couldn't get hold of the investigator the next day he decided to go ahead on his own. He called 911 just before the meeting and they tried to dissuade him from meeting the guy. 

He decided to do it anyway, recalling the experience was "pretty scary."

Henderson filmed his interaction with the man, and in the video the man leaves the scene as soon as Henderson says the bike is his and police are on the way.

Since then, Henderson says he "still feels anxious" riding the bike, but says police have thanked him for everything he provided.

Henderson says police also told him his video, photos and the contact information of the suspect helped investigators arrest and charge the bike thief for break and enter in Henderson's case and in other cases as well.

Henderson says police told him that his case "would never have been solved" without him.

Corrine Dimnik

Bike stolen from: Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-Junction

Stolen: May 2017

Corrine Dimnik and her husband had their pricey road bikes stolen from their condo's underground parking garage in May.

Like Henderson, the couple were able to find listings for their bikes on Kijiji. Unlike Henderson, they weren't able to recover their bikes.

"The whole thing I did find quite depressing," said Dimnik. "I mean, our bikes were right there."

Dimnik says she contacted the Kijiji seller in front of two uniformed police officers who were taking her statement about the bike thefts. But she says the officers told her she'd have to reschedule the meeting with the seller for another time when their plainclothes colleagues were available. 

In the meantime, Dimnik found out that another bike was stolen the same night from a neighbouring townhouse. The neighbour's bike was posted by the the same Kijiji seller, she says, but the neighbour was dealing with a different police division. The neighbour was "lucky enough" to recover his bike. 

The whole thing I did find quite depressing, I mean our bikes were right there.- Corrine Dimnik

Dimnik updated her police contact on what had happened with her neighbour and the officer didn't know anything about the third bike.

By that point, she says the Kijiji seller would no longer answer calls about her and her husband's bikes.

Dimnik says they haven't replaced the bikes and she's not sure if she ever will.

"It sort of put me off buying an expensive bike again," said Dimnik, adding that she definitely won't be buying on Kijiji anymore.

"I don't want to buy someone's stolen bike."