On Aug. 1, Julie Comeau went into her backyard to find something was missing.
Her bicycle, which she uses to run errands or travel to her job as a teacher at Admiral Collingwood Elementary School, was gone.
But thanks to the Collingwood/Blue Mountains OPP, Comeau and her Cannondale bicycle have been reunited.
Comeau moved to Collingwood three years ago. A year and a half ago, her car was broken into.
She said her experience getting her bike back erased any apprehension she’s had in the past about moving to town.
“I really feel like we have amazing police work and amazing people in our community. I’m all about community,” said Comeau. “They were so reassuring.”
On Thursday last week, Comeau suspects her bike was lifted from her gated backyard in the middle of the day when she was out running errands.
“When I looked out into the backyard from my kitchen window, my heart sunk,” she said. “It was total disappointment.”
Comeau called police right away and spoke with her neighbours in case they caught anything on their doorbell cameras, alas no one had anything.
She quickly put together a post to share on Collingwood community groups on Facebook, hopeful that the right person would see it and may have seen her bike.
And the right person did.
On Saturday night, Comeau came upstairs from her basement to find an unmarked OPP cruiser in her driveway.
Collingwood OPP Const. Clyde Vivian emerged from the cruiser, with Comeau’s disassembled bike in the backseat. Collingwood General and Marine Hospital crisis worker Suzanne Talbot got out of the passenger side.
“When I saw that, I was just elated,” said Comeau. “It’s put a smile on my face.”
Vivian and Talbot make up part of the Collingwood/Blue Mountains OPP’s mobile crisis response team (formerly the mental health response unit), which has been in place since 2016 and pairs a CGMH crisis worker with an OPP officer to attend mental health calls. The unit does outreach with Collingwood and Blue Mountains’ most vulnerable populations to build relationships.
Vivian saw Comeau’s post on Facebook late last week, and set out to find the bike. Also an owner of a Cannondale bicycle, he knew exactly what he was looking for.
“It stands out. You don’t see too many of those bikes around,” said Vivian in an interview with CollingwoodToday. “It was a really good post with pictures of her bike...and she had the serial number.”
Vivian said the bike theft is one of many instances of the unit’s connections paying off.
“I was able to track it down. The person who stole it bought a lock and locked it up,” said Vivian with a laugh. “Sometimes it’s a streak of luck, and sometimes it’s about having good connections in the community.”
Vivian said that while charges have not yet been laid in the bike theft, he anticipates making an arrest on the matter in short order.
“I know who he is, and I’m coming for him,” he said. “I’ll hold him criminally responsible, but not only that, but I’m also going to support him because there are people who need that support.”
Throughout his travels, Vivian has met many who have found themselves in desperate, harsh situations due to circumstances beyond their control, and as a major part of his work, he leads with empathy and the idea of second chances.
“By doing that, it becomes an educational piece for him and others,” he said. “I’m glad we were able to bring closure to this.”
Vivian said there recently have been multiple incidences in Collingwood and Blue Mountains of vehicles being broken into and bicycles being stolen.
“Things like this are a symptom of a greater problem we have in our communities,” he said. “A lot of these are a crime of opportunity.”
To protect yourself, Vivian recommends always locking your vehicle, and always chaining or locking up your bike, even if it’s on your own property. Clear photos of your property and taking down serial numbers can also help police in the event of a theft.
