A short−lived bicycle theft spree in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill may have been the free−wheeling work of two suspects that cops nabbed red−handed last week.
Sources said that investigators were trying to connect the bicycle thefts – which stretch back to Independence Day weekend – to 37−year−old Adrian Figueroa and 49−year−old Gasper Alcade.
Both men, who live in the area, were taken into custody on July 20 when they were found allegedly trying to run off with two bicycles tethered to a pole on Wyckoff Street near Hoyt Street.
Police Officer Ronald Pereira of the 76th Precinct’s Conditions Unit spotted the duo allegedly trying to cut the chains securing the bikes – a tactic used in the five other thefts.
Recalling the previous thefts, cops were told that a Schwinn bike was stolen from a bike rack near the corner of Court Street and Atlantic Avenue at about 1 p.m. on July 4. The $250 two−wheeler was reportedly chained to the bike rack at the time of the theft.
Two other bicycle thefts took place that weekend – on Amity Street between Clinton and Henry streets, where a $400 bicycle was removed from a resident’s yard and on Butler Street near Smith Street, where another Schwinn bike was swiped – this time from a resident’s front terrace.
The bike thefts continued on July 15 when a Sirrus bicycle was swiped from Court Street near Union Street
Five days later, a Red Trek mountain bike was swiped from a sign post it was connected near the corner of Pacific and Court streets.
Figueroa and Alcade were arrested on Wycoff Street later that night, officials said.
In each of these cases, the bicycle chain was “snapped,” police said.
While cops have yet to charge the two men to the other thefts, it’s believed that they were allegedly involved in some way.
“We haven’t had another bicycle theft since their arrest,” said one police source.
