- Do you even know of one crime with a bicycle?
If you know about all these crimes involving bicycles, that would be wild. You’ll have to tell us in the comments!
- Lance Armstrong was not involved in violent crime, but his international doping scandal became one of the most shocking controversies in sports history. Investigations revealed years of deception involving banned performance-enhancing drugs during professional cycling competitions.
- In the 1890s, outlaw Harry Longabaugh reportedly used bicycles during scouting trips before robberies because bikes were quiet and practical in small
Western towns. - Criminal mastermind Graeme Thorne was linked to one of Australia’s most infamous crimes in 1960. Investigators discovered bicycles had been used by suspects for surveillance and movement near the victim’s neighborhood.
- In 2011, former police officer Paul McMullin escaped prison custody in England and used a bicycle to help evade capture temporarily. Authorities later arrested him after a nationwide search. Did you know this as one of the crimes involving bicycles?
- In 2015, a man nicknamed the “Bicycle Bandit” robbed several businesses in Houston while using a simple bicycle for transportation. Police said the bike allowed him to move through neighborhoods and disappear into traffic faster than patrol vehicles could react.
- During World War II, resistance courier Nancy Wake famously rode bicycles across occupied France carrying secret messages for Allied forces. Her missions were extremely dangerous because capture could have led to execution by Nazi authorities.
- In New York City during the 1970s, notorious purse snatcher Richard Murray used racing bicycles to grab handbags from pedestrians before escaping through crowded streets.
- In one unusual 2018 case from Portland, a suspected burglar attempted to escape officers on a unicycle after abandoning a stolen bicycle, creating one of the strangest police chases recorded by local news stations. Did you know this as one of the crimes involving bicycles?
- In 2009, serial burglar Tommy Schaad committed robberies in Southern California while arriving and escaping on a bicycle. Witnesses often underestimated him because he appeared casual and harmless compared to typical armed robbers.
- Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow occasionally used stolen bicycles while hiding from police when cars became too noticeable during their crime spree across the United States.
- These real stories show bicycles have played unexpected roles in robberies, escapes, wartime resistance, organized theft, and criminal disguises throughout modern history.
- During the 1980s, organized bike gangs in Amsterdam stole thousands of bicycles yearly and exported them across Europe. Some thieves became locally infamous because entire warehouses filled with stolen bikes were
uncovered by police. Did you know this as one of the crimes involving bicycles? - In 1919, outlaw Frank McNamara reportedly used a bicycle during part of a robbery escape in the American Midwest after abandoning a damaged getaway vehicle. At the time, bicycles helped criminals move quickly through rural roads without attracting immediate attention.
- In 2020, a food delivery cyclist in London was arrested after authorities discovered he used his delivery route to transport stolen mobile phones gathered by pickpocket crews.
- French criminal Albert Spaggiari became famous for the 1976 robbery of the Société Générale bank in Nice. Although the heist involved tunnels and stolen money, investigators later discovered some members of the gang used bicycles around the city to avoid police suspicion while scouting routes.
So, did you know all these crimes involving bicycles? Tell us something new you learned in the comments!