CHICAGO—Chicago police say a man who was allegedly caught trying to steal a bike by sawing through its lock on a busy River North street corner complained that the cops arrested him before he successfully stole the bike.
“I didn’t even take it yet,” Malik Smith, 24, allegedly told the officers. “I almost took it.”
Officers who arrested Smith on the corner of State and Grand claim that he told them he was trying to steal the bike “so that he could use the bike to do Uber Eats deliveries.”
The officers were on patrol around 9:15 p.m. on April 1 when they saw sparks flying on the southeast corner of State and Grand, outside the Grand Red Line station entrance, according to Smith’s arrest report.
They saw Smith crouched down, using a power tool to cut through the bike’s lock and chain, the report said. He put the tool down as the officers approached him with their guns drawn.
Smith told the cops “several times” that he was trying to steal the bike, according to the report. The officers’ report said the “chain/lock” was partially cut, but the bike remained “semi-secure.”
Prosecutors charged Smith with possession of burglary tools, a felony. Judge William Fahy released him to await trial.
