The rescued bike released the kind of high-pitched sound that could curl your toes and send shivers down your spine.
"It's so old," said David Ngo as he struggled to manoeuvre the red Schwinn cruiser across the floor of Toronto Police Central Garage at 9 Hanna Ave. The rust covering the frame and gears kept the bike from moving without considerable force and left a fine red trail in its wake.
Ngo is a member of the Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI), a group of paid teens who work with police over a period of eight weeks, typically during the summer months.
About 35 "Yipis" were called in yesterday to sort and tag 1,200 to 1,500 bikes stored at the garage before loading them into trucks to be shipped to another storage site.
The bikes were recovered after Igor Kenk, owner of The Bicycle Clinic on Queen St. W., was arrested last Wednesday. Police followed up with a massive seizure of hundreds of apparently stolen bikes, resulting in more than 60 charges.
"I'm actually surprised there are so many bikes," said Ngo.
It's not over yet. The investigation continues as a steady stream of tips comes in to Crime Stoppers, and more bikes are expected to be recovered, police said. Anyone who rented garage space to Kenk is being asked to contact police.
On Monday, about 220 bikes were on display and people were encouraged to bring proof of ownership – a receipt, photo of themselves with the bike or serial number – to claim their bike.
"We are not getting much back," said Supt. Ruth White as she sorted bikes.
Yesterday, four bikes were reconnected with their owners, she said.
"The officers were saying they were disheartened to find so few," owners she said, adding it's not too late to register your stolen bike at www.torontopolice.on.ca/bike/.
White expects the rest of the bikes to be available for public viewing on Friday or Saturday and hoped to make an announcement about the time and location today.
When asked about a possible ring involved, White said at this point the focus of the investigation remains on Kenk.
At the warehouse, Saharla Ali, 17, was on the books. Ali's role was taking down serial numbers and the make and model of each bike. It took her about five hours to log the information for about 300 bikes.
Earlier in the day, the warehouse was incredibly cramped, with only one narrow area for the Yipis to walk, she said. In between taking down numbers, Ali rhymed off the names of medium to high-end bikes she'd watched being pulled from the tangled mess. "I've been doing it a lot, so now I know."
