While attending the Stars & Stripes & Spokes rally in Washington, D.C., over Memorial Day Weekend, I met Russ Long, a 28-year U.S. Army veteran. Russ had entered his beautifully painted purple 2003 Anniversary Edition Road Glide into the rally’s Most Patriotic Theme bike show on Saturday, and although he didn’t win, he rode away with an idea… to transform his purple Road Glide into a rolling memorial to fallen service personnel. He designed a Purple Heart theme and was preparing to get it painted when disaster struck. His bike was stolen out of a parking garage in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 16.
Russ, now an Army reservist, has spent about $8,000 customizing the bike that he rode to work most days. If you have any information on the theft, contact Crime Solvers at 866.411.TIPS/4677, send an email through the web site at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org, or text “TIP187” and your message to CRIMES/274637. You can also call the Fairfax County Police at 703.691.2131. Tips can be submitted anonymously.
Apparently the brazen thief rode it right out of the garage, and the entire maneuver was caught on surveillance tapes. That’s some thank-you to a member of our military. Let’s hope a witness steps up and helps catch the scumbag who stole the bike.
