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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Florida - Motorcycle task force keeps eyes out for bike thefts

OFF THE WIRE
By ANDREW GANT, Staff writer

DAYTONA BEACH -- A teenager was sitting on a silver Harley-Davidson when someone nearby noticed he was fiddling with the shifter.
Members of the Volusia County Motorcycle Anti-Theft Task Force were there almost instantly.
Kevin Campana, 17, of Port Orange was the task force's first arrest of Bike Week 2011 -- one of Daytona Beach's two annual motorcycle events that police say attract bike thieves and illegal dealers.
By midweek, the task force seized nine stolen motorcycles, Volusia County sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. They were looking for more.
"Basically, they hit the streets in proactive patrols to hunt for stolen bikes, deploy bait motorcycles in high-theft areas to deter crooks and also work to put a halt to illegal, side-of-the-road motorcycle sales," Davidson said. The roadside deals are commonly known as "curbstoning."

Campana's arrest was last Saturday, when the task force was inspecting motorcycles around the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
The 17-year-old was sitting on a Pennsylvania man's 2010 Street Glide when officers stopped to talk to him, according to a Sheriff's Office report. He was charged with felony theft of a motor vehicle.
Campana, however, said Thursday he had no intention of stealing the motorcycle -- he was feeling sick when he sat down on the bike to orient himself. He said the bike was in neutral when he sat down, and he tried to shift gears when it started to roll.
Bike owner Ben Policz, 20, of Waynesburg, Pa., said he was just glad the task force was around keeping an eye out.
"If it wasn't for them," he said, "I'd be walking around Bike Week."