Bike shop in NW Portland dealing with fourth break-in in less than a year

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - A bike shop in Northwest Portland is cleaning up the damage from a break-in early Monday morning, and unfortunately it’s nothing new for the shop.

Fat Tire Farm posted to Facebook saying thieves driving a stolen van crashed through the front door, wall and steel roll down door of their store at 2714 Northwest Thurman Street. Police said the two male suspects then ditched the van down the street and took off with one bike from the shop - a Yeti SB160 T1 in Radium.

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This is the fourth time the bike shop has been broken into in less than a year.

He says police told him someone backed a stolen van into the storefront, ditched the van down the street, then stole 1 bike. The last break-in was about 2 weeks ago. The general manager says it’s extremely frustrating and wants to see more leadership from the city. @fox12oregon
— Drew Reeves (@DrewReevesTV) February 6, 2023

The general manager, Barry O’Connor, told FOX 12 the last break-in was just about two weeks ago. He says that Fat Tire Farm has been here for 40 years and has not had problems like this until the last three years or so.

Break-ins have also happened to storage containers and a van at the shop.

O’Connor says they’ve done about everything they can, including fortifying the building with steel gates inside, but he says it just keeps happening.

“We’re kind of throwing our hands up. We feel like we’re doing all that we can do in terms of securing our building but I think it really comes down to there’s an absolute lack of leadership in the city right now. There’s no vision, and it just feels kind of like chaos,” O’Connor said.

He says it’s frustrating to own a business in the city right now, and he knows other business owners who feel the same way. He adds that he doesn’t have much hope that anyone will be caught, since previous investigations didn’t turn up anything.

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The business will now have to go through insurance to try and get the damage fixed. O’Connor says he’s worried though about how much insurance will cover and how many times since the break-ins keep happening.

O’Connor says moving forward he’s like to know where the city is putting its priority and wants to see more done for small businesses and the rise of crime.

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