The Pine Needle

On Feb. 13, a Kawasaki Ninja 250R was stolen from parking lot 13, behind the basketball courts.

Senior Christopher Faulk purchased the green with black stripe motorcycle at 4 p.m. Saturday, and hasn’t seen it since 1:30 the next morning. He realized it was missing by 1 p.m. that Sunday afternoon.

When Faulk realized that his motorcycle was missing, he said he “took about 30 minutes and just sat there. Then I walked over to campus police and asked them if they'd moved my motorcycle and they said they hadn’t.” After realizing his bike hadn’t been moved, Faulk filed a stolen vehicle report.

After the report was filed, campus police began the search. Detective Ed Locklear had the cameras pulled to view the tape, listed the motorcycle on National Crime Information Center [NCIC] and alerted all police departments within 50 miles, enabling the department to broaden their search.

“Unfortunately, [Faulk] parked in the back of lot 14 behind the basketball courts, off the camera,” Locklear said.

There was no footage of the motorcycle being ridden away. Locklear feels that it's possible that it was carried away, since it was a smaller motorcycle.

“It didn’t make any sense to me that my community would do this to me. I just couldn’t fathom someone taking that from me. I had it for 12 hours,” Faulk said.

Faulk paid $3,500 for the Ninja.

“This is the most money I’ve lost and had nothing to show for it. This was the most money I’ve lost in a single day,” Faulk continued.

When Faulk brought his motorcycle to campus, he asked the dorm supervisor of West Hall if he could walk the bike to his room and was told he couldn’t.

“Before this was stolen from me, I had the philosophy that whoever stole from me must need it more than me. But no one needs a motorcycle; it’s a want. It was my mode of transportation. I was trying to get from point A to point B with a little class,” Faulk said.

Faulk’s loss has not deterred him from following his dream of riding motorcycles.

“Riding is a passion of mine, and just because someone stole this from me doesn’t mean that my dream is over,” Faulk said.

Locklear has advice for other students who plan to bring motorcycles to campus including double lock the motorcycle and park towards the middle of the parking lot so the camera can see it.

Also, there is a chain up behind Wellons Hall, so motorcycles can be chained up.