ANDERSONVILLE — An Andersonville man with a sense of humor posted a YouTube video that he said catches a thief red-handed — stealing his wife's bike from his family's garage.
The man, Benjamin Davis, of the 1400 block of North Summerdale Avenue, said he made the video "in order to channel my annoyance."
His 2:19 minute video shows a man wearing a T-shirt, black bookbag and black cap, meandering down an alley in Andersonville one day last week. He patiently forces his way through a back yard gate — and then breaks into a garage — where he takes a bike before riding off down the alley.
Davis added humorous captions to the video as the man does his work, and set the video to electronic music band Freezepop's song "Bike Thief," which begins with these lyrics: "What is not to like?/ A Shiny bike / No lock, no key...it's there for me/ It's for real, I'm gonna steal a pair of wheels."
Davis said on his YouTube page that he made the video after "having my wife's bike jacked" out of his family's garage "in broad daylight."
"I put together this little homage to the uselessness of surveillance cameras," Davis wrote.
The office of Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) is aware of the incident, which has spurred an ongoing police investigation, according to Marko Zaric, the 48th Ward’s public safety liaison. No one is in custody.
Davis was not immediately reachable for comment.
But Davis said somebody has seen the alleged thief in the neighborhood since the bike was stolen, the Edgeville Buzz reported.
Davis also said the detective assigned to the case told him he believes he might know who the thief is, according to Edgeville Buzz.
A resident in Old Irving Park also caught an alleged bike thief on a webcam recently. There is no indication that the thefts are related.
