Mom uncovers clues in Modesto bicycle theft

When somebody made off with Collin Gunn’s bicycle Tuesday, his mother, Brenda, did what most parents would do and filed a police report.

But she took matters further, visiting a business that shared a parking lot with the fast-food restaurant where the theft occurred. And she asked employees there to look through their surveillance-camera video to see if they had any images of the culprit.

They did and, sure enough, they found it: images of a young male, wearing a red shirt and tan shorts, riding away from Burger King on the 12-year-old’s BMX bike.

“The ladies ... were so very helpful,” Brenda Gunn said in an email.

The manager of the Burger King at Prescott Road and Standiford Avenue, where the theft occurred, also was helpful but did not recognize the thief, she said. Collin is a regular there, stopping by with friends nearly daily for ice cream on their way home from Prescott Junior High School.

“Collin said he watched the kid walk up to his bike parked in the bike rack but unlocked,” Gunn said. “The rack is right outside the front door. The kid looked at his bike, looked up at them through the window, then took the bike and rode east down the sidewalk of Standiford.”

Collin and his friends ran outside but were afraid to give chase. Collin called Gunn, just leaving work in Turlock. She called the police; an officer responded quickly but could not locate the thief.

Armed with images from the video, Gunn visited schools nearby to see if anyone recognized the culprit. No such luck. She then emailed The Modesto Bee.

“We know there are bigger, more important crimes in Modesto, but we are hoping with the public’s help, the kid can be identified,” she said. “We hope someone will notice their son, brother or friend with a new, unexplained bike and turn them in.”

Gunn showed a lot of initiative trying to get her son’s bicycle back, said Heather Graves, spokeswoman for the Modesto Police Department. Officers would not be able to devote so much effort to solving the crime, which is classified as a petty theft.

“But these things are preventable,” said Graves, noting the bicycle was left unlocked outside the restaurant. “Teaching your kids early to take steps to prevent things from happening is probably the way to go.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2014 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Mom uncovers clues in Modesto bicycle theft."