Edinburgh Crime News: Three masked men steal university lecturer's e-bike from George Square

A lecturer at the University of Edinburgh has made a plea for people to look out for her family’s e-bike after it was stolen from an on-campus bike store by three men with their faces covered.

Charlotte Rommerskirchen bought the quirky RadRunner e-bike last year and used it everyday to get to work, do the school/nursery run and to generally enjoy the city.

To her dismay, on Wednesday, April 6, at around 4.30pm it was stolen from the University of Edinburgh’s George Square bike storage.

Ms Rommerskirchen told The Evening News that CCTV footage shows three young men with their faces covered taking “all but a few minutes” to cut through the bike’s lock with an angle grinder before making off with it.

The Newington based lecturer said: “I bought the bike last year and me and my children have enjoyed it tremendously!

"The little one goes in the front seat and then my older son goes on the back. The motor is quite powerful and cycling has been a breeze.

"Given that we currently don’t have a very good cycling infrastructure in Edinburgh, I wanted a short and relatively light option, and the RadRunner fit the bill."

A lecturer at the University of Edinburgh has had her e-bike stolen from an on-campus bike store at George Square.

She described it as fairly distinctive being dark green with an orange rack, a cushioned rear-seat and a front-mounted child seat.

Taking to Twitter, Ms Rommerskirchen asked her followers to keep an eye out for the bike and to re-share her appeal as far as possible.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Officers received a report of a theft of an electric bike from George Square in Edinburgh at around 4.30pm on Wednesday, 6 April, 2022. Anyone who knows who is responsible, should contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting reference number 0525 of 7 April, 2022."

As well as reporting the theft to the police, Ms Rommerskirchen also took it to the university given it was an on-campus bike store.

A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: “We do our best to make our bike stores as safe as possible but items are always left at the owner’s risk.

“Bike theft is upsetting and we would encourage the owner to report this to our security team so we can monitor the situation. We will always work to support the police with their enquiries when appropriate.”

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