A rash of bicycle thefts along North Shore Metra train lines may be coming to an end after Lake Forest police arrested an Aurora man allegedly involved with a ring of bike bandits.

Jacob D. Mejia, 19, of the 700 block of Talma Street, was charged with attempted theft over $300, possession of cannabis, obstructing a police officer and attempted obstruction of justice, said Lake Forest Deputy Chief Glenn Burmeister.

Mejia’s arrest came after a spike in bicycle thefts at Lake Forest Metra stops, Burmeister said.

Spotting a suspicious trend, Lake Forest police last month installed a camera at a stop, pointing it toward the bicycle rack, Burmeister said. At about 6:30 p.m. Aug. 18 at the station, 911 S. Telegraph Road, the camera captured two men stealing a bicycle, one of whom looked a lot like Mejia, Burmeister said.

It appears the thieves work in pairs, getting off at random stops along the Union Pacific North and Milwaukee District/North lines, Burmeister said. They scope out certain bicycles they want to steal. Using a pair of bolt cutters, stored in backpacks, they snap off the locks, grab the bicycles and then hop back on the trains, he said.

On Aug. 20, a Lake Forest police officer caught Mejia at a stop at 1691 N. Western Avenue. Mejia’s accomplice got away, having escaped on a train shortly beforehand, Burmeister said.

Once confronted by the officer, Mejia attempted to swallow a plastic bag of cannabis, forcing the officer to make Mejia give up the bag, he said.

Mejia is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 8, he said.

Lake Forest police are now contacting towns, including Highland Park, Deerfield, Lake Bluff, Mundelein and Libertyville, about whether they have experienced a similar trend, Burmeister said.

In Deerfield, police have noted a significant increase in the number of bike thefts near its two Metra stops, said Deputy Chief Tom Keane. During the summer, there have been six bike thefts near stops, which is not typical, he said.

A 54-year-old Deerfield man may have been a victim of the bike theft ring last month. Thieves stole his $500 bicycle from a bike rack at the Deerfield train station where the man had locked it up with a brand-new steel lock, police said.

At about 8 a.m. Aug. 2, the man locked up his bicycle on the rack on the east side of the tracks, closest to Deerfield Road, police said.

When he returned to retrieve his black Schwinn bicycle, at about 10:45 p.m., it was missing along with the new lock, police said.

In June, two bicycles owned by a 22-year-old Deerfield man were stolen three days apart from a bicycle rack on the 500 block of Lake Cook Road, which is near another Deerfield stop at 601 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield police said.

The man told police that his black Gary Fisher Tarpon mountain bike was taken between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on June 18, according to a police report.

He said his bicycle lock was cut and his bicycle was missing from the rack where he’d locked it, police said.

The man bought a new bicycle from Deerfield Cyclery for $420 that weekend to replace his stolen bicycle, police said.

On June 21, he reported that his new bicycle was stolen between 8:40 a.m. and noon at the same location. He said the lock and bicycle were missing from the rack where his other bicycle was stolen, police said.

sutermaat@tribune.com