Notorious bike thief arrested

Cyclists rejoice -- there may soon be a sharp decline in bicycle thefts on campus. Late Sunday night, University Police arrested notorious bike thief Steven Scott, of the 3800 block of Reno Street, for the 58th time since May 1997. Nearly all of his arrests were in connection with bike theft or attempted bike theft, according to Penn Detective Supervisor Frank DeMeo. University Police Chief Maureen Rush said Scott may have been responsible for the recent rash of bike thefts -- about 12 in the past two weeks -- on or near campus. "It was probably a small group of him and a few other friends," she said. "He has a long, fruitful criminal history," Rush added. "He has plagued our bicycle racks for years." At his preliminary hearing, Penn Police will request a stay-away order for Scott, meaning that they can arrest him on-sight if he is ever on campus. Scott's most recent arrest was at about 11:20 p.m. on Sunday, when a University Police officer spotted Scott and a female companion entering a fenced-in construction area and tampering with bicycles outside of Irvine Auditorium at 3401 Spruce Street. The officer arrested 32-year-old Scott and his companion, 32-year-old Theresa Scurry. The pair has been charged with attempted theft. According to Rush, a University Police detective will testify at Scott's trial that Scott is a "continual menace to the Penn community," in the hopes that the judge will issue the stay-away order. Deputy Chief of Investigations Tom King said Scott was out of prison on parole when he was arrested on Sunday. If the arrest is a serious violation of Scott's parole, a judge will be more likely to issue a stay-away order, according to King. Such an order is necessary because no matter how many times Scott is arrested, he keeps returning to campus, Rush said. Philadelphia Police are also more likely to keep Scott in custody than release him on bail if this latest arrest is a serious enough parole infringement. Rush said Scott is a career criminal who just will not stay away from campus. "We know who he is, he knows we know who he is," she said. "But it's like there's a magnet drawing him to Penn."