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'Dumb' Would-Be Thief Arrested After Being Filmed Allegedly Trying To Steal Bike Outside Oregon Police Station

“I have not actually seen something that blatant because the officers were inside watching on video camera,” Gladstone Police Sgt. Carl Bell said of suspect Adam Valle’s alleged theft attempt.

By Sharon Lynn Pruitt

An Oregon man was allegedly caught on camera in real-time trying to steal a bicycle chained up in front of a police station. Unsurprisingly, he was promptly arrested and charged over the bizarrely bold move.

The Gladstone Police Department shared surveillance footage of the flagrant robbery attempt in a Facebook post on Monday. In the short video recorded on Dec. 27, a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a face covering can be seen approaching the lone bike with what looks to be a pair of bolt cutters.

Shortly after he kneels, a police officer emerges from the building and confronts him with a Taser. A second officer soon follows, and the suspect was quickly taken to the ground and handcuffed.

“Suspect arrested for attempting to steal a bike...From the PD!!!! SGT Okerman arrested the suspect after confronting him with a Taser,” the department’s post said.

The video has been viewed nearly 300,000 times in a matter of days.

The alleged thief, later identified as 26-year-old Adam Valle, was ultimately charged with theft, criminal mischief and felony possession of weapons, ABC News reports.

Valle was released from jail the following day and ordered to appear in court at a later date, Sgt. Carl Bell told the outlet.

He added that Valle’s attempt to steal from a police station was “dumb,” and that when he asked the man why he would attempt such a thing, he did not answer, according to ABC News.

“I have not actually seen something that blatant because the officers were inside watching on video camera,” Bell said.

Incredibly, this was not Valle’s first time allegedly trying to steal a set of wheels; he was previously arrested in November for bike theft, according to WDIV, a local news outlet based in Detroit.

[Photo Credit: Facebook/Gladstone Police Department]

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