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Bike-share bicycle vandal seen on camera in SoDo

SEATTLE — A man believed to have sabotaged brakes on bike-share bicycles in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood was recorded by surveillance cameras.

Surveillance video provided by Seattle police shows the man walking up to several bikes parked at Fourth Avenue and South Main Street at about 11:45 p.m. on June 14.

The man is seen using what appears to be a cutting tool around the bikes' brake lines before walking away.

The newly released surveillance video comes from cameras at Hirabayashi Place. Linda Vonheim, the property manager, said she wasn’t aware of the problem until Ofo knocked on their door.

“The Ofo guys came in and they said, 'Do you have video?' And we said, 'Oh yeah, we have video. We definitely have video. We have 18 cameras,'” Vonheim said.

They adjusted a couple of their cameras to better see the sidewalk, and shortly after -- caught a suspect snipping brake lines.

“I couldn’t believe it. The guy is just walking up the street, he kind of does this,” she said, looking left and right. “And then snip, snip, snip and just keeps on walking. I was like, wow,” Vonheim said.

"Why? What is the point? You’re just going to ruin someone else’s ride or you’re going to cause somebody to hurt themselves,” she said.

Police also found surveillance photos from a month earlier, which appear to show the same man damaging a bike's brakes near Fourth Avenue and Holgate Street at about 11:15 p.m.

Detectives say they’re investigating similar incidents in other parts of the city, but do not yet know if those cases are linked.

KIRO 7’s Deedee Sun talked with a bike-share rider who said he came across cut brake lines earlier this week, just a few blocks away at Eighth and Columbia.

“I was going to get on it (an Ofo bike) after I unlocked it. I looked down and all the wires were cut, both of them. Luckily I looked down and saw,” said Vernon Ryan, who said he frequently uses bike-shares.

“I’ve noticed people talking about it all over the city. Whether it’s a group of people or one person, it’s not right. They need to stop,” Ryan said.

Anyone who recognizes the man in the video or has information about the incidents is asked to call Seattle police South Precinct detectives at 206-386-1855.

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