Unusual bike theft attempt stopped by neighbor witness

DENVER (KDVR) — A man attempting to steal a bike in the middle of the day was stopped with help from a neighbor who saw it happening.

It happened on Gilpin Street in Denver around midday Thursday. Dan Ramos was working from home at the time.

“I was hearing a buzzing sound. I just assumed it was someone trimming their lawn,” he said.

At the same time, Bill Warshafsky heard it too. He lives just down the street and happened to be walking by Ramos’ house.

“I see a guy out on the porch and he’s got a hood over his head, and he’s crouched down,” Warshafsky said.

But it was not a lawn mower Ramos heard — it was a man using an electric saw to cut the lock on a bike.

“He didn’t flinch, he didn’t look at me,” Warshafsky said. “Nothing was going to distract this guy from what he was doing.”

“But obviously it didn’t do the trick quickly, he was having to work at it,” Ramos said.

The attempted thief worked for at least 20 minutes while Warshafsky ran home to grab his phone, then returned to take pictures.

Warshafsky flagged down a police car driving nearby to try and help the situation. The officers approached the man to make an arrest.

“He turned around with one hand up and said, ‘Oh, I’m just helping a friend here,’ and the cop said, ‘No, you’re not,’” Warshafsky said.

‘We’ll be locking out outlets from now on’

Ramos had no idea this happened until police knocked on his door thinking they had done him a favor.

“First thing the police asked me is: Is that your bike? It was literally sitting right here, and I was like no, that’s not my bike,” he said.

It was stolen somewhere else and brought there. It turns out Ramos’ porch was just the closest place to plug in an electric saw.

“We’ll be locking our outlets from now on,” Ramos said.

He’s thankful that even though they had never met, Warshafsky took the time to step in and help.

“We need more neighbors like Bill, for sure,” Ramos said.

Ramos said he will press charges on the man for trespassing. As for the bike, it’s currently with the Denver Police Department, and both Ramos and Warshafsky hope whoever it belongs to gets it back.