SALT LAKE CITY — A man fed up with a growing number of bike thefts is taking matters into his own hands.
Kay Jay is also known as “Bike Batman.” He is helping reunite stolen bicycles with their owners.
Kay Jay began this effort after his bike, and his only mode of transportation, was stolen during the winter.
“I was like you know what I am going to start doing, I am getting these bikes back,” he said.
Last week, Maya Kobe-Rundio, a student at the University of Utah, had her bike stolen from her garage.
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“I was inside and left the garage door open for 10 minutes,” she said. “When I came back outside, my bike was gone.”
She posted about the incident on social media.
Soon after seeing the post, Kay Jay spotted the bike near Liberty Park. He called Maya, who then called police. Within about an hour, Maya’s bike was returned.
The Bike Batman estimates he’s recovered about eight bikes since March.
Maya wants to repay his kindness.
“Here's this guy who helped me and turned my day around,” she said. “He’s an incredible community member.”
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She has organized a GoFundMe to raise money so Kay Jay, who works several jobs to make ends meet, can get a new bike.
“He deserves to have a bike and deserves so much more than that. He deserves all the good karma in the world,” she said.
Kay Jay wants his identity to remain a secret so his cover isn’t blown when he finds a suspected thief with a bike.
He plans on continuing to look for stolen bikes so others won’t have to experience the loss that has impacted his life for several months.
“She said a few things that stuck with me, like ‘I will remember this for the rest of my life,’” Kay Jay said. “It feels good, like alright cool, I must be doing something.”
