Eighteen bicycles and related equipment valued at roughly $23,000 were stolen from a storage trailer at Salmon Creek Elementary School. Three of the bikes were adaptive models intended for students with physical disabilities. The loss removes equipment from a grant-funded bike-safety education program designed to include students with a range of needs.
Break-In Discovered Monday Morning
School staff discovered the trailer had been broken into on Monday, prompting a call to deputies, according to The Columbian. The bikes inside had been supplied through a grant-funded bike safety education program, the same report notes, meaning the loss hits a curriculum tool rather than just a pile of donated equipment. KPTV, which first reported the theft as exceeding $23,000 in value, says the KPTV figure covers bicycles and related equipment taken from the trailer.
KPTV reported that surveillance footage shows two people removing bikes at about 1:30 a.m. Monday. The stolen models included Haro and Fairdale bicycles and a recumbent tricycle, according to KOIN, along with three adaptive bikes designed for students who use different riding setups.
Partial Recovery in Hazel Dell
Deputies recovered six bikes the following day in Hazel Dell, worth about $7,800, KOIN reported. Twelve bikes remain missing. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who sees them or has information to call the county’s non-emergency line at 311.
How Often Do Stolen Bikes Come Back
A 2023 survey of 1,823 bicycle-theft victims in the United States and Canada found that 15% had recovered their stolen bikes, according to Findings Press. The survey offers a broad comparison, not a prediction of whether the Salmon Creek bikes will be found.
The Salmon Creek case is distinct from a 2018 theft involving a Vancouver charity effort to provide bicycles to children in need.
A separate charity theft in 2018
In December 2018, police said 16 bicycles promised to children through the Scott Campbell Christmas Promise were stolen—not the hundreds initially reported by Waste Connections, according to The Columbian. That theft involved a charity distribution effort, rather than school bike-safety equipment.
