We mentioned this briefly last week, but now there's been a community meeting in which SFPD's Park Station police confirmed there had been six separate incidents of violent bike thievery in the Panhandle in the last two weeks, the most recent occurring last Friday. As Hoodline reports, three separate attacks happened, both after 1 a.m., on October 3 and 4 at the intersection of Fell and Masonic. In all three cases, male cyclists were attacked by people lurking in the park, made to crash or fall off their bikes, and had their bikes subsequently stolen.

The suspects are described as Hispanic males in the 18-22 age range, and the police said they chased and detained two suspects on Monday who were in possession of a bike, but it's unclear if these are the only suspects, or if the attacks have stopped.

In one case detailed last week, someone riding down Fell along the Panhandle had a stick shoved in their spokes, causing them to crash. In another, an empty glass liquor bottle was smashed over a cyclist's head.

Two more violent thefts occurred, with battery incidents, on Ashbury within five minutes of each other on Friday, October 10 around 10:40 p.m.

Two of the stolen bikes have gone up for sale on Craigslist, and at least one has been recovered by the police. But cyclists in this neighborhood are being told to be extremely vigilant and to look out for any suspicious behavior.