Sports journalist denounces theft of his bicycle and offers reward

Sports narrator James Orlando Ruiz was a victim of insecurity in Bogotá. Two subjects, who were mobilizing by bicycle, entered his home, in the neighborhood of La Estradita in the town of Engativá, apparently used a card. The events were recorded on security cameras in the sector.

In the images it is possible to see that the men arrive at the home of the sports communicator and the first thing they do is ring the bell, the objective was to check if there was someone in the house, as well as to observe the type of security that the door had.

Then they left, but returned after two minutes, at which time one of the criminals uses a card to open the door, in which they do not take long and manage to enter the building.

“We were in the room with my wife and baby. We left 20 minutes later, after having seen the cameras and videos. Fortunately, we didn't leave the room at the time of the robbery, because I don't know what would have happened,” Ruiz told Noticias RCN.

Inside the house, in a few minutes they took a computer and a professional road bike that is valued at $8 million. The journalist assured that if there is a possibility of recovering it, he would give a reward.

The cycle is branded “tropix” in white and gray color. It is noteworthy that the events took place in the presence of Ruiz and his family, who were inside the house, in one of the rooms. Although they were there only 20 minutes after the robbery, they realized what happened.

Apparently, the criminals lasted eight minutes inside the house of journalist Ruiz, and the one who stole the bicycle got out on it. This fact was reported to the Prosecutor's Office and the authorities are investigating whether it is a gang dedicated to house theft in the sector.

Keep in mind that bicycle theft has become very frequent in the city. The Ministry of Security reported that in 2021 the locations where this crime occurred the most are Kennedy (1,223), Engativa (1,181), Suba (1,058) and Bosa (782).

While figures from the Bogotá Police showed that during 2021 they made 1,483 arrests for bicycle theft, as well as checks on 60 cycle marketing establishments that have allowed the preventive closure of 15 stores where stolen items were sold or purchased.

The authorities also stated that there are 41 points in 10 locations most affected by this crime, so there is a group made up of 60 professionals and 265 auxiliaries to cover 286 kilometers of cycling routes, of the more than 550 that exist in the capital. One of the strategies implemented by the mayor's office of Bogotá to reduce cycle thefts in the city is their registration. According to the Ministry of Mobility, more than 120,000 bicycles were voluntarily registered in 2021.

It should be remembered that, with this system, what is wanted is to identify the owners of the bicycles that are recovered. Until October 2021, authorities were able to recover 686 bikes that had been stolen. Interested bicycle users can register their vehicles by entering the Bogotá Bicycle Registry.

“The Bogotá Bike Registry is a voluntary project for cyclists, however, carrying out the search creates an identity for them and a database that helps the authorities carry out checks on the road and in commercial establishments in order to identify possible stolen bicycles and proceed with their seizure at the same time as these entities can contact the owner of the bicycle and proceed with its return”, indicates on the page of El Registro Bici Bogotá.

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