There are Still Good People in the World – Vol. 24

Photo by PoPville flickr user Sanjay Suchak

“Dear PoPville,

I just wanted to share a story of heroism from the other night.

As I was closing up at my job in Woodley Park, around 9pm, I set my bike outside and went back inside to set the alarm. 30 seconds later, I was back outside and my bike was gone. Panicing, I call my boss, then 911. About 10 minutes later, I’m on the phone with my boyfriend when I see a man ride by on my bicycle. I dropped the phone and ran down Calvert Street towards Connecticut Avenue, chasing him and yelling for him to drop the bike. Soon, about 17 pedistrians and restaurant patrons followed, running across the street after the thief. Part of this pack was a man on his own bicycle. The thief turns and rides down the grassy hill into Rock Creek Park, and the man on his bicycle follows him. After about 5 minutes, my hero walked out of the park with his own bike under one arm, and mine under the other. After debriefing with the cops, I learned that my hero was Dave, and he is a station tech for Capital Bikeshare.

Dave is amazing, as are the other folks from the Woodley neighborhood who jumped in to help stop the thief. Thanks to all of the good people in this great city who go above and beyond to help a stranger. Special props to Bikeshare for hiring such an awesome guy.

Side note: During the reporting after my bike was recovered, the police received 2 more calls about bike thefts within the neighborhood. Not sure what this is about, but clearly someone is after bikes in Woodley. Keep your bikes locked!”