Alleged bike thief pleads not guilty
GLENDALE — A 48-year-old parolee on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to fleeing police on a stolen bicycle, prompting a short chase that at one point had the police patrol car up on a sidewalk, officials said.
Michael Foster, who was on parole for a robbery conviction, is scheduled to reappear in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Nov. 18, and being held in lieu of $1.1 million bail, officials said.
Foster was taken into custody just after 1 p.m. Saturday on suspicion of grand theft, resisting arrest and failing to comply with an officer’s order after police stopped him in the 700 block of West California Avenue, according to police reports.
No one was hurt in the incident.
“Anyone who flees, whether it be on bicycle, on foot or in a vehicle, from the police is a danger to the community,” Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.
Earlier that day, a witness told police that he saw Foster reach into his bag for bolt cutters to release a locked bicycle from a chain link fence in the 400 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard, according to police reports.
After watching Foster, the informant left his apartment window to call police. When he returned, the red bicycle was gone, according to the report.
An officer who noticed Foster riding a bicycle in the 500 block of Milford Street asked him to stop, but he continued to ride, according to police reports.
Foster began riding faster and threw down a backpack containing bolt cutters and a lock, according to police reports.
After the officer tried stopping Foster by tapping the rear bicycle tire with his patrol car’s front bumper, he drove up on a Lexington Drive sidewalk, also to no avail, according to police reports.
The officer was finally able to pull his patrol car in front of the bicycle, cutting Foster off and causing him to hit the ground.
Foster began running and tried climbing over a brick wall, according to police reports, but the officer finally caught him.
Foster reportedly told police that he ran because “he has had bad experiences with police officers in the past.”
Foster declined medical treatment at the scene, police said.