October 29th, 2002
Sacramento California
On the evening of October 28th 2002, the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department’s bait bicycle was placed in the back of a pickup truck located at 1000 Fulton Ave. At approximately 5:20AM on the morning of October 29th, the bike was stolen out of the back of the truck. This movement activated the ProAct-IV transmitter hidden within the bicycle, immediately alerting the Sheriff’s Department of the theft. Approximately 3 minutes after the activation, the signal disappeared. Sheriff’s deputies attempted to locate the signal for about thirty minutes using mobile tracking receivers but were unable to do so. As they returned to the Fulton Ave. address to retrieve a video tape of the theft, a weak signal was picked up and tracked to an apartment complex on Evelyn Way about a block and a half from where the bike was stolen. The signal was tracked to the center of the apartment complex where the bike was located at the bottom of the swimming pool.
The bike was recovered from the pool and taken back to the Fulton Avenue location. When the video tape of the theft was reviewed by officers, the suspect was recognized as the same suspect who was arrested for stealing the same bicycle on May 24th, 2002. An arrest warrant was issued for the suspect’s arrest and he was eventually picked up, convicted of the theft, and sentenced to several months in jail.
