Downtown Austin business hires private investigator after several burglaries
AUSTIN, Texas - A local business has hired a private investigator after several burglaries. Lance Armstrong’s bike shop in downtown Austin has been hit seven times in 10 months and a couple of suspected burglars are still on the loose.
"There's a very active stolen bike community in Austin," StriderPI private investigator Dave Amis said.
Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop reported seven burglaries since September, five at the retail store and two at the store’s storage unit. Trick Hat Workway, the space next door, reported at least one burglary.
"What people don't realize is that there's far more criminal activity out there than almost anybody realizes," Amis said.
Video shows the window of Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop being shattered and a man coming through the broken glass and walking around the store. He’s identified as 41-year-old Brian Darelle Theodore Richardson. Amis said he stole Lance Armstrong’s electric bicycle valued at $20,000. They were ultimately able to recover it. Richardson is charged with burglary of a building.
Other videos showed a man walking inside Trick Hat Workway, looking around, and talking to the manager on the way out while trying to steal the manager’s bike as if it’s his. He is kicked out, then comes back about 10 minutes later, convinces the worker the bike is his, and steals it.
"Having a Texas PI on your trail is not a pleasant experience," Amis said.
StriderPI located and recovered the bike in two weeks, then worked with APD and identified the man who stole the bike as 23-year-old Juan Pablo Castellanos, who’s currently sitting in the Travis County Jail for other charges.
Private investigators are being hired more by businesses.
APD said it’s difficult to get to every report and investigate. The department’s commercial burglary unit has seven detectives, and they receive on average 30 to 40 burglary reports a week. APD said private investigators provide useful information at times.
"When you don't have enough cops, you have the problem that people get away with things and so then they do it again and each time they do it, they get better and better and better," Amis said.
To help investigators, Amis said all businesses should have cameras.
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"Cameras are just killers when it comes to who did the crime," Amis said. "If you can get a face image of one of the burglars, we're already halfway there and if you get a license plate number when they leave, oh, jeez, we're like 99% of the way."
Amis said they’ve identified four suspects. They’re still working to identify a couple of suspects who broke into the storage unit.
StriderPI offers training for people who want to become Texas private investigators. It's the only in-person school in Texas.
StriderPI teaches OSINT 101, which is investigation by computer, and SURVEILLANCE 102 as the first two classes. The next courses are CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS 103, UNDERCOVER OPS 104, and INVESTIGATIVE LEADERSHIP 105.
Amis said anyone from 18 to 80-years old can become a private investigator. The most recent StriderPI class helped get leads and recover a bike during Mellow Johnny’s burglary investigations. To apply, click here.
As of 2022, statistics from the FBI showed the rate of burglary in Austin was nearly twice the national average.