Chehalis: Bicycle getaway on Interstate 5 ends with arrest

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 49-year-old man was arrested for theft yesterday after he allegedly concealed several items in a bright yellow backpack he had selected from Wal-Mart’s sporting goods section and then made his getaway up Interstate 5 on a boys BMX bicycle he had selected from the retailer as well.

Police called just before 7:30 p.m. to the 1600 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue were told the shoplifter was seen peddling at a high rate of speed across the Chamber Way overpass and headed northbound on the freeway, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

Norman J. Field was stopped near milepost 81 and arrested for second-degree theft, according to police.

The 20-inch Cincinnati brand bike, the backpack and the several bottles of cologne along with an electric razor totaled about $787, according to Officer Linda Bailey.

Field, whose address is listed as in Olympia, also handed over to officers two key rings he said he’d found in the store’s parking lot, each containing multiple vehicle keys, Bailey said. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail.

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6 Responses to “Chehalis: Bicycle getaway on Interstate 5 ends with arrest”

  1. Guilty Bystander says:

    It’s stuff like this that makes me wonder why FOX never shoots an episode of “Cops” down here when they’re always in Pierce County. Granted, there are a lot more criminals up there, but ours are way more entertaining.

    If Norman’s smart (and he clearly isn’t), he won’t be cracking open any of that cologne in jail.

  2. B.L. Zebub says:

    I suspect you are right, Kari. He clearly doesn’t have a moral issue with theft, so why’d he bother with the bike instead of just stealing one of the cars that belonged to the keychains. Criminals! Puzzles wrapped in enigmas…Or is that “Jackasses wrapped in Methamphetemines”?

  3. Kari oakie says:

    He ‘found’ them in the purses of shoppers, I suspect.

  4. B.L. Zebub says:

    This is the funniest thing I have heard all day! Thanks for giving me a chuckle, Sharyn! Picturing a guy with a neon yellow backpack full of cologne, pedalling down the road in a fury is killing me. At least he didn’t hide in a bush like many of the brainiacs I’ve read about lately.

    I’m dying to know why he chose to steal those particular items. Anyone have any theories? Maybe he was going to a wedding but had no transportation, so took a bike, but worried he might smell bad after all that pedalling, hence the cologne. The razor was to shave all his hair off his legs&arms to reduce wind resistance so he would make good time, and finally, a backpack to carry this stuff (in bright yellow for safety). Not sure how the “found”key rings figure in, however.

  5. DALTON says:

    ……….yep peddling at a high rate of speed” that man was on a mission alright

  6. BobbyinLC says:

    Wow going to pedal his way to Olympia on the freeway. It is a good thing criminals are rocket scientists!