Drew Speir does not care that the brake lines to his bicycle were cut or that the seat had been torn and ripped — he had his bike back in his possession, and is ready to get it repaired.

Speir, a 9-year-old fourth grader and aspiring bike stunt rider, was the only person to recover a stolen bike during the Aug. 6 open house by the Slidell Police Department to reunite people with either stolen or lost bicycles.

“I recognized it right off the bat,” Spier said, when he and his grandmother, Janet Lingo, showed up at police headquarters bright and early that Saturday morning. “I was so excited.”

Drew Spier, 9, is all smiles as he sits on his bike that was recovered by Slidell police. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

Excited is an understatement. According to police Property/Evidence Officer Debbie McCormick, Spier was so thrilled to get his bike back, he wouldn’t let go of it.

“We had to ask him several times to stop riding the bike, so it could be loaded into the truck,” McCormick said.

Spier is one of the lucky people to get his bike back. Currently, Slidell police have over 50 lost or stolen bikes that need to be reunited with their owners. Bike theft is not a real big problem in the city, according to police spokesman, Capt. Kevin Foltz, but police they need the room, and hope people will come to headquarters and claim their bikes.

Lingo said that she and her grandson read a notice about the event in the St. Tammany News, and they were the first ones in line Aug. 6 to look over the stolen bikes.

The last time Spier saw his Mongoose stunt bike was May 9 when he and his family left town for vacation.

“The last time we saw it, it was in front of his mom’s car,” Lingo said.

Police recovered Spier’s bike June 17. It had been abandoned in the Best Buy parking lot near the Northshore Mall.

Lingo said that bike theft has become a problem in her quiet neighborhood off Thompson Road just outside Slidell city limits.

“I’ve lived here for 38 years, and bike thefts and crime are becoming big problems,” Lingo said.

For Spier, getting the bike back was special. He bought the bicycle with his own money, and had been practicing stunts with it, before it disappeared. He will have to wait a little longer, because the thieves damaged his hand brakes, bent the front fork, and ripped up the seat. Spier said it will take him and his grandfather about a month to restore the bike back to its full glory.

Slidell police urge all residents to lock up their bicycles with either locks or put them inside their homes to prevent thefts. In case a stolen bike is recovered by police, Foltz advised riders to copy down the serial number of the bike and keep it in a safe location.

“It will greatly increase the likelihood of the bike being returned to you if it is lost or stolen,” Foltz said.

The captain said the police department is planning to hold another open house in the near future to see if more people can recover their bicycles. If police cannot find their owners, the bikes are kept for a maximum of 60 days after being found, and then are given to local charity organizations.

“I’d like to see as many of these bikes returned to their owners as possible,” Police Chief Freddie Drennan said. “With the prices of everything going up, some folks just can’t afford to replace their child’s lost or stolen bike.”