Bungling bike thief ran from Leeds police - when they asked him to switch on his lights
A panic-stricken thief dropped his stolen bike and ran, after officers politely asked him to switch on his lights.
Mateusz Zakowski was told by a judge that he probably would have got away with it, had he just turned on the lights of the electric bicycle.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Zakowski had been riding along Clay Pit Lane, near the junction with Elmwood Lane in Leeds city centre, on November 12 last year, when the PCSO halted him.
The 37-year-old then lost his nerve, got off and began running away shouting: “I found the bike.”
The officer gave chase and managed to catch up with him. He was searched and found to have two small bags of amphetamines and rucksack containing tin snips, two mobile phones and a bank card in a different name.
Zakowski, of Clyde Court, New Wortley, admitted a charge of theft of the bike. The expensive machine is yet to be reclaimed. He has three previous convictions for eight offences including possession of drugs and shoplifting.
No mitigation was offered on his half after Judge Ray Singh said he would not jail him.
He told Zakowski: “You are not the most sophisticated criminal. That’s abundantly clear.
“All they were really asking you as to turn on the lights. They had no idea the bike was stolen. You suggested you found the bike, your behaviour suggests otherwise.”
He gave him a 12-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days.