CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — After moving to downtown Corpus Christi a few months ago, Russell Sellman received a not so warm welcome after his bikes were stolen last weekend from his garage at his apartment complex.
"We have our two bikes out there and someone happened to sneak in and cut the chain and walk off with it,” Sellman said.
Sellman added it’s not just about the cost, it’s their sentimental value..
"My wife's. I literally just got it for her for Christmas (and)she only got to ride it once," he said. "A lot of heartbreak, and my bike, I know it'll be hard to get one like that again.”
Despite Sellman's rocky start to the year, he's still holding on to hope.
"The parking garage has surveillance cameras," he said. "They were able to see where he came from, and you see him cut it and walk off.”
Melanie Salinas, the owner of HYPEBYKE Corpus Christi, also noticed that stolen bikes are becoming a problem in the community.
"Those are just the ones we've heard of," Salinas said. "Can you imagine the ones that don't come across our store here?”
Salinas recommended calling the police, filing a police report, using air tags to track your bicycle and investing in a better bicycle lock.
"Something with a key or something thicker than your conventional bicycle lock,” she said.
The Corpus Christi Police Department is looking into the theft of Sellman's bikes, and said they are reviewing security footage and increasing patrols in the downtown area.
