More James Clayton artifacts and information for your perusal...

Update: The police JUST called me and updated me with an actual OFFICIAL STATEMENT (r)(c)(tm). Check it:

Yesterday (February 3rd) detectives with the Austin police department executed 2 search warrants on James Clayton's residence as well as a storage unit that he was renting. At both locations they recovered a large amount of property, some of which has already been linked to crimes committed locally. Yesterday he was arrested on 4 counts, 1 of which was burglary of a residence in Travis County, and the other 3 counts were for larceny theft of bikes in Maricopa County, AZ. This morning a felony theft charge was filed on Mr. Clayton with regards to some of the recovered property. Add that to the previous 4 felony charges, and that's a grand total of 5 felonies with more anticipated as they process the property.

If you are a friend or acquaintance of James Clayton and believe you have been victimized in some way, please contact Detective Scott Askew with the Austin Police Department. Here is his information:

If you don't get a hold of Det. Askew immediately just leave a message, he's real good about calling back. He also wanted to make it clear that even though they're very interested in getting as much stolen property back to its rightful owners as possible, all the bicycles and components they've seized is considered "evidence", and since their primary concern is a conviction it may take a little while before everything can be released to the proper owners. He wanted me to mention that so no one gets their hopes up of just showing up at the impound lot and riding home on their bike.

I also want to extend a big THANK YOU from the Austin cycling community to Detective Askew and all the other officers and personnel involved in apprehending Mr. Clayton and bringing this alleged bike thief to justice. Great job folks, and thanks for keeping us stinky bikers in the loop!

A lot of people have been contacting me regarding Mr. James Clayton and his alleged bike thieving. So far nearly everyone contacting me has been an alleged victim or one of their friends, and they've had all sorts of great stories to tell. With the exception of Jack I haven't had anybody stick up for the fella, and honestly I'm not that surprised from the things I've heard. The guy sounds like a scumbag even if he isn't a thief. Anyway, on to the artifacts that relate to this sordid tale, in case the internet decides to swallow them whole as it's done in the past:

Booked and charged! If you want an updated account of his charges (they've grown since this image was captured), just follow this link and type in "Clayton" for a last name and "J" for a first initial.

James Clayton also did two interviews with KOOP last February and March, where he somewhat goes into his (alleged) super-villain origin story. I heard a slightly different version elsewhere, but this one is interesting nonetheless. Listen to them here (thanks Rob!):

http://www.innerviewslive.com/2008_shows/IV_James_Clayton_022008.mp3

http://www.innerviewslive.com/2008_shows/IV_James_Clayton_030508.mp3

I really love where they mention that James once again makes his living off of cycling. How little did they know...

I'll keep y'all posted as this develops, but one thing I did want to let everyone know is that the detectives on the case have been in contact with me, and will be doing everything in their power to reunite victims with their bikes. If you've had a bicycle stolen (specifically high-end road, tri, or MTB) in the past couple years and haven't reported it, to do so as soon as possible. You can either do this with APD, UTPD (if you're a student), or you can post as much info as you can to the ATXBS Stolen Bike Registry. If you have a serial number and a picture that'd be best, as the police will be checking all the frames and components so that hopefully they can return some of these ill-gotten gains to their rightful owners. As soon as they give me more info you know where to look for it...

ATXBS, suckas!