Pair Arrested In Theft of 2 Bikes Valued At $44K From Morgan Hill Shop

Two suspects were arrested Tuesday after the owner of a high-end Morgan Hill bicycle company reported the theft of two carbon fiber bikes worth about $44,000, including his British-engineered McLaren model, police said.

Officers were dispatched at 6:19 a.m. Monday to Specialized Bicycle Components at 15130 Concord Circle in Morgan Hill to investigate a reported burglary where someone forced their way through the main entrance while the business was closed, police said.

The burglary occurred only a day after the company had presented customers with custom-made S-Works bicycles engineered by the U.K-based racecar manufacturer McLaren of which only 250 were made, the firm’s customer service supervisor Tyler Carlson said.

On Sunday, a suspect or suspects removed two S-Works bicycles together valued at around $44,000, placed them into what was believed to have been a Honda CR-V model SUV or similar type of vehicle and left, according to police.

On Tuesday, police learned that a Morgan Hill resident was attempting to sell the pricey bikes and contacted the person while posing as a customer.

At 10:44 p.m., detectives met and spoke to suspect Kannadi Ridenour, 26, who admitted that the bikes were at her residence in Morgan Hill, according to police.

A short time later, police went to the residence, where they contacted another suspect, 34-year-old Ryan Balestrini, who was standing in the front porch.

Balestrini had three warrants for his arrest.

When police entered the home, they found the two missing bicycles in a bedroom and later returned them to the company.

Ridenour and Balestrini were arrested on suspicion of felony possession of stolen property and methamphetamine. Balestrini was also arrested on suspicion of possessing narcotics paraphernalia, violation of probation and on the outstanding arrest warrants.

The stolen bikes included the S-Works McLaren model, the first of the only 250 made, owned by company owner Michael Sinyard and that had been placed for display on a wall, Carlson said.

The McLaren models, which go for about $20,000 each and special ordered by customers, were built based on research and development by Sinyard’s company and McLaren in Surry, England, makers of the McLaren-Honda cars that compete in the Formula 1 international auto races, he said.

The other stolen bike was an S-Works Tarmac, a speed-racing model of the type used in the Tour de France in France that had been used in a race by a professional bicyclist only a few months ago, he said.

The bikes’ frames and wheels are made of carbon fiber, which makes them very light especially for racing, weighing about 12 to 13 pounds compared to 30 to 40 pounds for bikes made of metal, he said.

Both of the stolen bikes were returned undamaged aside from a scratch on one of them.

The bikes are too well known and easy to recognize for the suspects to have moved them for sale, Carlson said.

“I’m sure they had no clue what they were getting,” he said.

--BAy City News

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