Business owner disappointed in police efforts to locate $500K worth of stolen e-bikes

The owner of an e-bike business says he has doubts police will find the roughly $500,000 worth of product that was stolen from a shipping container last week, while police say he “complicated” their investigation by posting video of the theft.

Roshan Thomas released a video to social media Friday that showed security footage of two suspects stealing the container with the e-bikes from a warehouse on Annacis Island in Delta just after 1 a.m. on March 19.

The shipping trailer and empty container were located in an industrial area in Langley on March 22.

“Two years of efforts that I’ve put in to bring these bikes to production and it seems like, you can be hardworking and honest and people come steal sh*t from you, and there’s nothing you can do,” said Thomas, owner of Biktrix.

Thomas shared the video in hopes that people would recognize the unique-looking 'Juggernaut' model of electric bikes if they ended up sold on the streets or online.

Delta police, however, said Thomas “complicated” the investigation by releasing the video.

“It’s advantageous for us to keep some of those investigative avenues to ourselves while they’re ongoing," said James Sandberg, public affairs manager with the Delta Police Department. "So when certain things get publicized, it makes it a little more difficult to investigate.”

Sandberg said the relationship between Thomas and the DPD is “strained.”

Thomas told CTV News he released the video because he sensed a lack of urgency from the police and noticed communication issues between Delta police and Langley RCMP.

He says he found out about the empty container in Langley through his contacts with the warehouse, and that the DPD seemed unaware the shipping container was located.

“Some guys found the empty trailer, the other guys are looking for the trailer still, they don’t even know that these guys found it," said Thomas via Zoom from his home in Saskatoon. “Sad part is they’re like 10-15 kilometres from each other. I’m sitting in Saskatoon and I had more information than they did which is really disappointing but also eye-opening to me, I think.”

Sandberg told CTV News the case is a high priority for Delta police.

"We have a team of officers that are working on this. It is a high-value theft and we recognize that. And we are putting resources into the investigation," said Sandberg.

Police have not located the truck.

Retired Vancouver police officer Rob Brunt, who specialized in bike detective work, says spreading the word could make a major difference in the case.

"I would do the same," said Brunt, who helped launch Project 529, a digital tool that helps people track down stolen bikes. "I mean, great police work, a lot of it, is the community helping police."

The DPD said it’s planning on using Project 529 to assist with the investigation.

"We want to get those bikes registered on our database so that if that bicycle shows up in Toronto and somebody buys it and then registers it, we will see where it came and it's a great tool for the police," said Brunt.

Police are looking for two suspects, a man and a woman, who wore dark clothing and attempted to conceal their identity during the theft. Delta police don't believe the bike shipment was targeted, calling the theft a crime of opportunity. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.