Child's bike stolen? Check the creek behind Walmart

Items stashed down in Caruth Creek behind Sam’s Club include numerous bikes, ladders, coolers and wagons.

Are your children’s bicycles missing? Before you send them out into the neighborhood with new ones, consider purchasing two things: a bike lock and an Apple AirTag.

Neighbors who bought AirTags say they tracked their children’s stolen bikes down into Caruth Creek behind the Sam’s Club/Walmart in Timber Creek Crossing. A community of apparent homeless individuals has assembled various items there, including bicycles, ladders, wagons and Igloo coolers.

An opening has been cut in the metal fence behind Sam’s next to the DART bus stop on Melody Lane. While I watched Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, individuals arrived rolling shopping carts loaded with bicycles and other goods. Some items are stashed in an encampment under the trees behind the bus stop, but others are bunched on the rocks down near the creek bed under the bridge.

Michael Dennis, public information officer for the Dallas Police Department, says officers have not seen an increase in bicycle theft in the surrounding area. So far this year, 45 bikes have been reported stolen across the Northeast Patrol Division.

“As always, we encourage residents to call 911 to report any crime,” Dennis said. “If a resident tracks property to a particular location, they should call 911 and provide that location.”

Summer is a time when bike-riding picks up, and children can become careless when visiting the homes of friends or the corner store. Dennis had a few tips for keeping bikes secure:

Keep bicycles with a heavy-duty lock in a secured building or somewhere not visible to the public,
Place identifiers on bikes, and
Lock the frame and both wheels to a stationary, fixed object like a bicycle stand.

Sam’s Club is at 6185 Retail Road near Northwest Highway and Skillman.