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DK Holland (far right) shows off the adult tricycle that has made her a Fort Greene legend. Behind her is Dan DeMarti, the chef at Olea, who helped chase down the tricycle thief. Also on hand are Holland’s niece Mia Narell and her friend, Brooks Larsen, who also had a hand in the recovery of the trike.

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A Fort Greene chef, wielding a pan full of olive oil, chased an adult-tricycle thief on Sunday, sparking a madcap manhunt, a tricycle-car crash, and the rescue of a neighborhood icon.

The saga of the stolen adult tricycle began on Sunday evening, 6:55 pm, to be exact. DK Holland, a 60-year-old graphic designer, was preparing to leave her Adelphi Street house. Holland’s beloved yellow tricycle was locked-up outside. Suddenly, she heard a neighbor scream.

She ran outside to find an unusual scene: “The chef from Olea was flying down Adelphi after my trike!” recalled Holland.

Hold on a second. A trike?

Yes. Holland rides a one-year-old Worksman tricycle. She says the benefits of riding a tricycle versus a mere bicycle are “vast.” Trikes are “sturdy,” have “a big basket for hauling,” and “people smile at you.” The chef, Dan DeMarti, says the sight of Holland on her trike is a “neighborhood icon.”

But back to the action.

DeMarti, the chef and owner of Olea, the Mediterranean restaurant on Lafayette Avenue and Adelphi Street, had been carrying a pan in which he’d been marinating goat cheese in olive oil when he saw the theft take place.

“I started chasing him and yelling, ‘Stop the guy!’” recalled DeMarti, who had been wearing his chef whites and clogs (which he thinks might have slowed him down). “But [the thief] was going pretty fast, believe it or not, on a tricycle. So, I called 911.”

Holland’s niece did, too. Meanwhile, the niece’s boyfriend, Brooks Larsen, used another set of wheels.

“I jumped in my girlfriend’s car, and saw a couple of guys chasing after someone. … [And then], I saw the tricycle and a crowd of people gathered on Willoughby.”

The thief had, according to witnesses, lost control of the tricycle and smashed into a parked car. When the thief tried to right the trike and speed away, its chain broke. Rather than surrender, he allegedly grabbed bolt-cutters from his backpack, slammed a deliveryman over the head, and stole his bike.

Some bystanders tried to catch him, but to no avail. By the time the police showed up, the tricycle thief was gone. Cops did not return a request for comment.

But, thankfully, the tricycle survived the ordeal, though during the unusual saga, the tricycle suffered a broken mirror, a bent axle, a broken chain, and a damaged rim.

©2007 Community Newspaper Group