The worst place to steal a bike? The Kelowna RCMP's bike room, as one thief learned

If you're trying to steal a bike, you might not want to do it in the RCMP's parking lot.

That didn't seem to matter to one alleged bike thief, who was busted by the Kelowna RCMPon Thursday after he was seentrying to ride a bait bike out of the detachment's secured lot.

RCMP sayBrian Richard Harbison, 38, was spotted by an officer who was looking down at thelot from the detachment's second flooron Kelowna's Richter Street.

The officer watched Harbisontry to open the locked pedestrian gate into the parking lot. He then saw Harbison slip into the lot after a car exited through a sensor-monitored gate.

Once inside, Harbisonwalked to the bike compoundand grabbed one of the bait bikes. He tried to ride outbut was immediately stopped by officers.

Harbison was held in police custody overnight and brought before a judge Friday morning. He faces five charges, including break and enter and theft of a bike under $5,000.

Police say Harbison is a well-known bike thief who has previously faced criminal charges.

"This brazen break-in and theft is not a common occurrence here at the Kelowna Detachment," Const. Lesley Smith wrote in a statement, "and the irony that Mr. Haribson would take a bait bike from the RCMP compound has won him a night in jail and more criminal charges."

Smith added: "This incident is also a clear indication of how quickly and easily these criminals can gain entry into a locked area and steal any item of opportunity."

Police are reminding the public to watch for any suspicious people loitering around their building, parkade or other restricted areas.