BIKE SQUADS GET HANDLE ON CRIME.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - When bicycle-mounted deputies rolled up on a man wanted on a spousal assault and drug warrant, they took him by surprise.

The man, who was talking on a pay telephone at Courson Park, didn't think the men on bicycles were deputies, he told a jailer. He thought they were Jehovah's Witnesses.

Stealth and surprise are two of the main advantages of the Palmdale sheriff's station's bicycle patrols, which have been going on for two years.

``It's always a very successful operation,'' said Sgt. Kyle Bistline, who heads the team. ``It's also a very good public relations tool.''

This week, five deputies on bicycles set out Tuesday evening with two ``chase cars'' - deputies in patrol cars who accompany them to haul those arrested away to jail. The bicycle deputies made 10 arrests and searched 11 people on probation or parole.

Deputies on bicycles are more accessible to the public than they would be in patrol cars, deputies said. They also can slip in and out of apartment complexes or parks less obtrusively than a patrol car.

``As the word gets out more and more, I think it just gives criminals one more thing to worry about,'' Bistline said.

Rogelio Castillo, 21, was arrested on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine. Ernest Nunn, 59, was arrested for an outstanding drug and spousal assault warrant.

Lernick Mesropyan, 19, and Artvazd Serobian, 21, were arrested on suspicion of annoying children under the age of 18, for allegedly asking out a group of 15-year-old girls and refusing to take no for an answer, deputies said.

The bicycle patrol also issued citations for eight municipal code violation citations, two parking violations and two vehicle code violations.

The team recently received 11 new mountain bikes purchased with money from the Palmdale Sheriff's Boosters, a private citizens club, and the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District.