3 men arrested in bike thefts at UC Irvine

Three men were arrested in less than 24 hours in connection with a series of bicycle thefts this week at UC Irvine, police said.

UCI police arrested Christopher William Payne, 30, on Monday after receiving a theft report from a campus employee at the Middle Earth student housing complex. Officers responded and found Payne riding a stolen bike, police said.

Payne pleaded guilty Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court to receiving stolen property, possession of burglary tools, possession of a controlled substance, possession of controlled substance paraphernalia and petty theft, all misdemeanors.

He also pleaded guilty to several outstanding misdemeanor charges, including possession of a controlled substance, driving with a suspended license and possession of controlled substance paraphernalia.

He was immediately sentenced to 60 days in jail, according to court records.

At about 6:15 p.m. Monday, UCI officers responded to a call near the natural sciences building and saw a man removing a bike from a rack and riding away, police said. Officers found the bike’s owner, who confirmed the man did not have permission to take it.

Patrick Reginald Norville, 38, was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property, burglary tools and possession of narcotics. He was booked into Orange County Jail and was cited and released, according to jail records.

Shortly before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, police received an alert that a “bait bike,” a bicycle outfitted with a GPS tracking device, had been taken near the arts quad area of the campus. Officers found a man riding the bike, police said.

The man, Pavel Stenslavov Ivanov, 30, pleaded guilty in Superior Court on Wednesday to grand theft and receiving stolen property, both misdemeanors. He was immediately sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to court records.

UC Irvine police are investigating whether the three men arrested are part of an organized bicycle theft ring on campus, according to a news release.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN