In 2009, a construction worker came to Vancouver to work on the Olympic Village condos. While he was here, he was suffering from a medical condition, so he rode his bike to the hospital. He began to feel extremely ill, so he stopped, locked up his bike, and took a cab the rest of the way.
After a few days in hospital, he returned to his bike only to find it had been stolen.
Eleven years later, Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for the bike owner. Neighbourhood Response Team members on foot patrol noticed a man sitting on the sidewalk with all his belongings spread out on the sidewalk, forcing pedestrians to walk into oncoming traffic to move around him. When they approached the man to ask him to move his stuff to the side so pedestrians could safely pass, they noticed the bike.
The officers discovered that the bike had been reported stolen in 2009. After some digging, they were able to locate the owner, who now lives in Ontario. The bike was banged up, but Reckless Bikes covered the cost of repairs and the VPD Community Fund covered the shipping back to the owner yesterday.
Civilian and sworn staff contribute to the VPD Community Fund, which is a registered charity. The money generally goes toward people in the community in need, with a focus on families and children.
