BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Man suffers head injury after falling from bike

Despite wearing a helmet, a 73-year-old man from Costa Mesa suffered major head trauma after losing control of his bicycle on a Newport Beach road Friday morning, police said.

Police said he was riding a road bike southbound on Newport Coast Drive in the bike lane when somehow he lost control and hit the ground. Newport Beach paramedics took him to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

The rider’s name is being withheld pending notification of the his next of kin, police said. They are still investigating the cause of the collision.

Police urge residents to secure property, gifts

Police from around Newport-Mesa said the holidays bring an increase in some kinds of property crime, and advised the public to be careful.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver said people should watch out for theft and burglary, especially when shopping.

“People leave their packages and valuables exposed instead of putting them in the trunk,” he said. “Residential burglary doesn’t go up as much, but we also caution people about leaving packages visible in the front window.”

He said a wackier kind of holiday crime is the theft of yard decorations.

“It’s because of the mass amounts of them put out everywhere, and because they’ve gone up in value so much,” he said. “There are decorations costing hundreds of dollars out there.”

Newport Beach police Sgt. Evan Sailor said that spikes in burglary or fraud don’t always happen.

“There’s no real rhyme or reason to what goes up or down this season,” he said. “But we do see lots of shoplifters in custody; mall security catches them and they call us.”