POLICE are appealing for witnesses following a robbery in Hopwas Hays Wood. At around 10.30am on Sunday (16th August), four people in balaclavas approached two men riding on trails in Hopwas Hays Wood, off Lichfield Road, and stole their mountain bikes.
When one of the victims refused to hand over his bicycle, he was kicked and dragged away from it. One of the suspects threatened to stab the other victim before taking his bike too. The mountain bikes are a blue and black Canyon Torque and a silver/grey Nukeproof Mega 275, worth around £2,000 each. The Canyon is a custom 2019 model. It has a Stans Flow wheelset with Hope Pro5 hubs. The rear hub is blue and the front hub is black. It has a Rockshox suspension and dropper seatpost, a custom DMR stem and handlebar and silver Sram brakes. The bike has numerous stickers on it. On the top bar, it has the word "committed" in white, while on the seat tube, it has a white sticker of a coffin. The Nukeproof has an aluminium frame. The tyres are Michelin Wild Enduro which are non-stock. It has a small paper tag with a QR code on the bars which is an entry tag for a bike park. It also has a significant scratch on the top tube on the left-hand side towards the front by the headset. A Staffordshire Police spokesperson said: "Officers have been carrying out enquiries including examining CCTV.
"We’re keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time, or those who may have witnessed anything suspicious." Anyone with information can call police on 101, quoting incident 307 of 16th August.
