ASU police arrested a Tempe man suspected of stealing bicycles from the Tempe campus on Tuesday afternoon.
Andrew Hughes, 35, was arrested on suspicion of one count of theft after plain-clothes police officers observed him leave his bike at a rack outside of the John W. Schwada Classroom Office Building and ride away on another bike, ASU police spokesman Cmdr. Jim Hardina said Wednesday.
ASU police, armed with a decoy bicycle, were on campus pursuing a different subject suspected of stealing student bicycles.
“Officers noticed Hughes pacing back and forth near the racks,” Hardina said. After he took the bike, Hughes reportedly got on a bus.
Police followed Hughes and confronted him near South Rural Road and East Spence Avenue, Hardina said.
Officers returned to the bike rack and discovered that Hughes cut the cable lock on the bicycle, which belonged to ASU Environmental Health and Safety, Hardina said.
A common method of theft is to ride up and leave an older bicycle, quickly cut the lock of a different bicycle and leave, Hardina said.
Hughes admitted to stealing the bicycle, Hardina said.
Police discovered Hughes has stolen bicycles from the Tempe campus and sold them to an unidentified man for $50 each.
Hardina said ASU police does not have an estimate of how many bikes he has stolen.
Officers have been unable to identify or contact the man buying the stolen bikes.
Because the number of thefts is growing, Hardina said students need to be more careful about locking their bicycles.
“It’s important to use a U-lock [rather than a cable lock],” Hardina said.
Hardina said while U-locks don’t completely thwart bike theft, they do lengthen the process and make it more difficult.
“We [also] need students to report suspicious behavior,” Hardina said. “People don’t hang around bike racks; they unlock their bike and ride off.”
Bike theft has been on the rise at ASU since spring 2008, with numbers climbing consistently throughout this semester.
ASU police is still pursuing the other suspected bike thief.
Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu.
