Police arrested a man last week for stealing bicycles in Crystal City.
Howard Montgomery, 47, of no fixed address, was spotted just before 3:00 a.m. last Thursday riding a bicycle and carrying another alongside him, Arlington County Police said. When an officer questioned Montgomery, he tried to flee but was taken into custody “after a brief struggle,” according to the police report.
Montgomery, who was also in possession of “a power grinder with numerous blades,” admitted to stealing the Cannondale and Drossinger bikes, police said. He was arrested and charged with grand larceny, larceny with intent to sell, possession of burglarious tools and obstruction of justice.
The arrest comes after ACPD announced that bike thefts in Arlington had hit an all-time high.
The two bikes stolen were not registered with the the police department, making it more difficult to return them to their owners, according to ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
Sternbeck said the area where Montgomery was arrested, around the 1600 block of S. Eads Street, is one of the “hot spots” for bicycle thefts around the county. Bicycle thefts tend to happen more frequently at commuter locations with lots of bike racks, he said.
While Montgomery confessed to stealing the two bikes, he did not admit to any prior crimes, said Sternbeck.