Man helps recover gutted Crankworx visitors' stolen bikes after spotting 'kids on flash bikes'

A Koutu man is being praised by police after chasing "kids on flash bikes" to return the bikes to their rightful owners - Crankworx visitors who had been gutted by the thefts.

After securing the return of the two stolen mountain bikes on Saturday, Josh Te Kowhai is urging others in the community to keep an eye out after a spate of bike thefts.

On Friday Christchurch's Alec Smith and his friends parked on Kawaha Point Rd to attend Crankworx because the parking paddock was closed due to rain.

"We left our three bikes chained onto the back of the ute," he said.

"We wandered back shortly after 9pm, our bikes were gone and we were just gutted."

Mr Smith had taken photos of his bike and the serial number when he bought it.

"As soon as we realised it was missing we logged a report with the police."

Mr Smith said felt violated and was unable to go on any further bike rides over the weekend. Then came some good news.

"A guy started messaging me on Facebook, he said he'd heard rumours of the bikes in his neighbourhood," he said.

"He picked it up and we actually got one of the bikes returned to us, he seemed like a really good guy."

That "really good guy" was Mr Te Kowhai.

"Some people from our community [Koutu] had spotted some kids on flash bikes," Mr Te Kowhai said.

"I went down to confront them and they rode off up the hill, I thought 'oh no now I have to go running up the hill,' but when I did catch up to them, to their credit, they did hand them over."

Mr Te Kowhai contacted police and the two bikes were returned to their owners. He said other locals need to keep an eye out.

"I know not everybody is going to just go up to people, but call the police," he said.

"It was good to get the bikes back, but there are still others out there. So I'll be keeping an eye out."

Rotorua police area prevention manager Inspector Stuart Nightingale said there were several thefts directly connected to tourists visiting Rotorua for Crankworx.

"We invite the public if they see someone riding a bike that doesn't fit, please tell us about it," he said.

"The public really are another set of eyes and ears."

He said it was important to work on preventing thefts at future events.

"It's all about working with tourists, on how to protect their bikes or other personal effects.

He said youths had been referred to Youth Aid in relation to the incident.

Police are still looking for two missing bikes - both are Black Kona Process 153.

If you have any information, contact Rotorua police on (07) 349 9400, or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.