In the summertime spillover of West Side (Austin district) crime, bike-snatching has been to the fore in Oak Park. But OP police have been at the ready.
Two 13-year-olds were nabbed yesterday afternoon as they pedalled east on Lake Street after copping the bikes of two 12–year-olds in the first block of Pleasant (yes, Pleasant), which is Fulton in the city, after eyewitnesses called the police.
About 90 minutes later, a 16-year-old Chicago boy approached a 13-year-old from Oak Park on a bike near Highland Avenue and Van Buren Street [a few blocks in], grabbed her rear wheel and reportedly said, “I need this more than you.”
This too was witnessed and called in, and the perp was spotted near Menard in the city (a few blocks in) and was chased by an OP cop to the 5500 block of Monroe (a half mile in) and nabbed.
It’s his perceived need that’s arresting here, offered as explanation if not justification to his victim. How did he know she needed it less? Or what made him think so?
Blithe Spirit 