Surveillance video shows person stealing bike in Jacksonville Beach

Man hopeful bike robber will be caught

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The Jacksonville Beach police are investigating a crime that was caught on camera last week. Surveillance cameras caught a bike thief in the act of stealing a beach cruiser from a man's parking garage.

John Longfield-Smith said he sees a lot of people walking and riding bikes near his beachfront condo and thought he'd never find the person who stole his bike from his parking garage -- until he checked surveillance video.

The video showed a person walking into the Surfside Condo's parking garaging and taking Longfield-Smith's bike.

"I wasn't sure whether there would be any evidence, and beach cruisers -- there's thousands at the beach. I asked security to review footage and when they did I was able to see some stills of the person," said Longfield-Smith.

He turned over the video to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department and although he's not sure if the police will find his $400 bike, or if the crook already pawned it, he said he's hopeful.

"I have no plans to get the bike back. (It's) either been pawned or sold. I doubt we'll ever get it back, but if we can just find the guy who did it, maybe he won't do it again next time," said Longfield-Smith. "Our neighbor upstairs a week or two ago had his car stolen. There's been other break-ins around the area and it was like, walking around the beach, I hear all kinds of tales of crime and petty theft, so I thought that if it actually had a good shot and video might be good to share with the public, and see if we could catch anybody."

News4Jax requested a copy of the police report on this incident from the Jacksonville Beach police. They said the report was not releasable Wednesday afternoon.

Anyone with any information about the stolen bike is being asked to call the Jacksonville Beach Police Department at 904-270-1667. 


About the Authors:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.