Purse, Cash Snatched from Art Biz, Thief Flees on “Nice Ride"

An urgent post on a neighborhood Facebook page on Sunday warned of a teen male who snatched a purse and cash from a beloved local art shop. His get-away vehicle? A “Nice Ride” bike, it seems.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon at the Goddess of Glass, according to the post that appeared to relay a message from someone working at or affiliated with the business. The business is located in the Victory neighborhood of Minneapolis near 44th and Penn and has a retail shop that sells handcrafts from local artists and also offers classes for kids and people of all ages.

The post said that a youth came into the business with a ruse to buy something and drew one person to an area of the store and then he made an excuse to go to another part of the store where he allegedly grabbed cash from a different cash drawer and also took a purse before fleeing on a “Nice Ride” bike. (continue reading below image)

The post described the suspect as a “15-17-year-old [African American] male, wearing a hat at an angle [and] dark clothing.”

Recorded 911 dispatch audio captured after an officer arrived on the scene reiterated the suspect description and said that he left on a “green city bike” carrying the multi-colored purse that he stole from the victim. The audio also indicated that someone in a vehicle had possibly tried to follow the suspect.

It’s not the first time in Minneapolis suspects have been described as fleeing on ride-share bikes. A Facebook post last fall described two robbery suspects in northeast Minneapolis fleeing on “green rental bikes.”

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Concerns have been raised in other cities about the use of ride-share bicycles and other ride-share modes of transportation being used during crimes. A report from Atlanta said that rental scooters have been used by teens who were “terrorizing” areas of the city and using the scooters to commit crimes. Another report from St. Louis describes thieves using rental bikes to follow delivery trucks around neighborhoods and then steal packages from doorsteps. The report out of Atlanta said that representatives from Lime, which supplies rental bikes and scooters to cities, has a “zero tolerance” for their vehicles being used in crimes. However, it’s unclear exactly what they’re doing to combat the problem.

In an odd twist, a person who appeared to identify himself as the suspect in the purse snatch made some comments on the original post referring to the cashier and saying that the “f-cking idiot made it so easy.”

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It’s unknown whether police have been advised of the comment and whether they are seeking to speak to the individual.

### Michelle Anderson writing on behalf of Minneapolis Crime Watch Network.

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