Someone Is Smearing Poop On Capital Bikeshare Bikes In DC: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — Something incredibly gross apparently is happening in the U Street Corridor in D.C.: someone is smearing feces on the underside of the handles on Capital Bikeshare bikes.

Twitter user Martha Spieker posted photos of the handles on Sunday, noting that it happened in the area of 15th and W streets NW.

She said it has happened the last two Sundays, and Capital Bikeshare is dealing with it.

Neighborhood heads up: someone near 15 and W NW has been spreading poop on the undersides of @bikeshare bike handles for the last two Sundays. Gross and a health hazard. Glad @bikeshare is fixing it, but bikers beware @PoPville pic.twitter.com/fLxcdl2jJC
— Martha Spieker (@martha_spieker) November 10, 2019

Capital Bikeshare told DCist that it had removed the affected bikes from service and thoroughly inspected and cleaned them.

Another individual said on Twitter that he narrowly avoided being a victim.

it was at the 15th & Florida stop two sundays ago. i smelled it, checked my shoes, then realized it was *ON* the bike I was about to check out. left handle, luckily, because i usually check the right (back) brake before checking out. i hit the "broken bike" button & took another.
— pretty sly for an AI (@hscotthiggins) November 11, 2019

Apparently, this happened last year in the Petworth neighborhood. Someone reported to Popville that an individual had smeared bags of dog poop on bikes on an almost daily basis.