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Monday, February 25, 2008

The Death of a Bicycle Thief

posted by on February 25 at 13:05 PM

The primitive and powerful instinct to live could not overcome the force of the shame:

LONGVIEW, Wash. — A popular podiatrist who was charged with stealing about $55,000 worth of expensive racing bicycles in Washington, Oregon and Utah has committed suicide at a hospital.

According to a police report, Jacob J. Bos, 35, hanged himself Friday night in his room in the psychiatric ward of St. John Medical Center at Longview. Two certified nursing assistants found his body Saturday morning, police reported.

Bos, 35, had been released on $5,500 bail while awaiting trial in Cowlitz County Superior Court on nine counts of first-degree possession of stolen property and three counts of trafficking in stolen property.


How can a podiatrist be popular? Are there that many happy feet? Only God knows.


Earth accept this dishonored guest.
Jacob J. Bos is laid to rest.

RSS icon Comments

1

why would u kill yourself? im guessing the doc had some slight mental illness or severe depression. the jail time for this offense would have been short. i dont even think he would have done a nickle. being a doc, his time wouldnt have been that hard on the inside.

Posted by SeMe | February 25, 2008 1:26 PM
2

That sucks.

Posted by Lloyd Clydesdale | February 25, 2008 1:30 PM
3

Charles, your feet must be awesome and never trouble you. I have extremely minor arch problems, and I adored my podiatrist (but his practice moved into Virginia Mason proper from a satellite office, and they charge "hospital fees" now that make no sense).

This story in the Times made me rather sad. Clearly, a lovely fellow with a hidden problem. Something likely happened before adulthood that made him a high achiever and an (alleged) thief. Clearly charming and his clinic said he was very skilled. Made people happy. But also must have been desperately unhappy.

Posted by Glenn Fleishman | February 25, 2008 1:40 PM
4

Nice of Charles to say he is a dishonored guest. Talk about judgemental socialism talking!

Posted by Andrew | February 25, 2008 1:42 PM
5

I think this had more to do with him realizing he couldn't join the thousands of people in the STP race, actually.

The guy was totally into the zone on high-performance biking ... and he knew that would be precluded for a long time, especially with all the problems with his podiatry licensing as a result of the arrest.

Posted by Will in Seattle | February 25, 2008 1:49 PM
6

He may have been popular based on his personality, regardless of his professional. Profession is rarely a persons most defining role in life. Unless, of course, you're a Marxist.

Posted by Dougsf | February 25, 2008 2:14 PM
7

Better than being a Marist.

Posted by Will in Seattle | February 25, 2008 2:24 PM
8

Will, STP hasn't been a race for over 20 years now.

Posted by stinkbug | February 25, 2008 2:27 PM
9

#8 It is still going strong. My friend rode it last year and here is the link to this years:

http://www.cascade.org/EandR/stp/index.cfm

Posted by elswinger | February 25, 2008 2:51 PM
10

@9: I think #8 meant that STP is not a formal, timed race and hasn't been since it's first year. It's a "recreational ride" (but don't tell that to the participants).

Posted by CG | February 25, 2008 3:15 PM
11

Some fucker stole my bike from UW on Saturday afternoon. Obviously it wasn't this guy. Still, I have very little sympathy...

Posted by DOUG. | February 25, 2008 4:07 PM
12

Yeah, if it didn't exist it wouldn't be in the Times and PI ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | February 25, 2008 9:39 PM
13

While predicting that this story would attract mudedian notions with the bicycle thief, cm, did I miss the equally predictable attraction that you would have re: alain robbe-grillet? Where are your posts, man? I was out of town and alas missed any computeristic opportunities. What say you man, about the arg?

Posted by stone | February 25, 2008 10:16 PM
14

How do you kill yourself in a mental hospital? Man, they even take away your belly button ring.

@3, I like your phrase, "a lovely fellow with a hidden problem" - and there is a tragedy in this situation that I don't think would be there if he were e.g. an emergency room MD or an orthopedic surgeon. His calling was so humble, but making people's feet feel better is more than most of us do to ease the suffering of the world.

Dr. Bos is my new absurd hero.

Posted by Sister Y | February 25, 2008 11:50 PM
15

Dr. Bos was a friend from our past. He was a husband and a father and a great friend. Something must have been troubling him (whether mental, chemical, or some other imbalance). We were very sad to find out about this tragic story.

Posted by familydillon | February 26, 2008 1:23 PM

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