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Police collect, sell abandoned
bikes
By Anna Herkamp
Summer
Reporter
Students and faculty on campus this summer might
wonder what happens to all those bikes they see chained up around campus
and never seem to disappear.
For some reason or another, the owners of these
orphaned bikes choose to leave them chained up to the racks outside
of buildings, residence halls and campus railings, and never come to
pick them up.
Sometimes people get very busy after they park
their bike and forget where they put it, said Ron Fosnaugh, captain
of special services for the Purdue Police Department.
For those owners who do not register their bikes,
if they do not try to claim their property within 60 days of the bike
roundup, there may be little chance that their bikes will be seen again.
Fosnaugh said approximately 297 bikes were picked
up in 2000 by the police after grounds keeping and the residence halls
did their annual spring cleanup.
First, the bikes are documented, and a physical
description is written down for each bicycle. After the bikes are rounded
up, the police will secure them, giving the owners a chance to claim
them. The police also try to match any of the bikes up with theft reports
they have acquired over the school year.
"We'd like to encourage people to come in and voluntarily
register their bicycles because the chances of matching a stolen bike
with a theft report are much greater than if bike is not registered,
said Fosnaugh.
After at least a 60-day waiting period, the bikes
are turned over to the Purdue Salvage and according to Michael Grenat,
manager of Warehousing and Salvage, sold for about $10 to $20 each.
"The store sells anything and everything," said
Grenat. The surplus store is a retail outlet for anything the University
deems "extra", said Grenat.
Items the University would turn over to salvage
beside bicycles include furniture, such as couches, chairs, desks and
tables, typewriters, personal computers, computer monitors and scientific
equipment from labs.
The salvage receives about 150 to 200 bicycles
per year. Most of them are in pretty rough shape, according to Grenat.
Sometimes, a customer will buy several bikes, and take the best parts
of each, he said.
All proceeds from the salvage go directly into
the University's general fund.
l The warehouse and salvage retail store is
open from noon until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. It is located at
2750 north 9th Street Road in Lafayette.
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CAMPUS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111
ext. 253
To
send a letter to the editor, please email opinions@purdueexponent.org
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