Roseville police are finding an unusually high number of unsafe operators of vehicles around the city's schools.

No, the offenders are not driving motor vehicles.

They are students and adults riding bicycles.

Police recently patrolled near three of the city's middle schools and were surprised at what they found.

Many bike riders didn't watch for cars and failed to yield the right-of-way to approaching vehicles before entering streets.

Others rode facing traffic, and some adult riders didn't wear helmets, police said.

Such bike-riding practices are either against the law or are simply unsafe, said Sgt. Karl Dyer of the department's community services office.

"We encourage our students to walk or bicycle to school," Dyer said in a news release. "It's good exercise, and it helps relieve traffic congestion around our campuses.

"But it's essential that student cyclists know and obey the rules of the road – for their own safety."

As for some of the adult cyclists, Dyer said they were "not being good role models."

"We saw adult cyclists riding facing traffic, rather than riding in the same direction of traffic," he said. "This is against the law, as well as dangerous."

Some weren't wearing helmets, "including parents who were riding to school with their children," Dyer said.

"While the law does not require adults over the age of 18 to wear helmets, it is safer to do so, and it sets a good example for the kids," he said.

Because of the poor bike-riding practices observed, police plan to conduct more patrols around Roseville's schools, Dyer said.

Police will give verbal warnings at first. But after a while, they will begin issuing citations, he said.

An event aimed at providing bicycle safety tips has been scheduled for Oct. 4. Roseville's 14th annual Bikefest will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at Quail Glen Elementary School, 1250 Canevari Drive.

Six homes, 906 acres burn

The final toll on the Labor Day fire that broke out northeast of Lincoln shows that the blaze burned 960 acres, destroying six residences and 10 outbuildings.

The Gladding fire burned for two days and threatened 20 other residences, according to information on the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Web site. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Meanwhile, Placer County has issued cleanup guidelines to Lincoln residents whose rural properties were burned or damaged by the fire.

The guidelines cover such topics as how to control dust from ash and contaminated debris, handling and transporting hazardous household waste and the recycling of appliance and vehicle parts.

To see the guidelines, go to the county's Web site at www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/hhs/env_health/Fire%20Cleanup.aspx, look under "Fire debris cleanup guidance" and click on the Word or PDF document link.

Sobriety check on Friday

Roseville police will conduct a sobriety checkpoint at an undisclosed location Friday night.

Department spokeswo-man Dee Dee Gunther said the checkpoint, which also will include examining driver's licenses, will be held at a street or intersection with a significant history of drunken driving accidents.

Suspects leave trail on Web

Roseville police used the Internet to arrest three suspects for allegedly stealing tires and rims.

The culprits tried to sell the stolen items on Craigslist, the popular online advertising Web site, and undercover officers answered the ads to make the arrests, police reported.

Police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther said police were contacted Friday by employees of an auto dealership on Riverside Avenue who reported that custom tires and rims from two vehicles on the lot had been stolen.

On Saturday, the employees noticed that the tires and rims were being advertised on Craigslist in separate ads, Gunther said.

Undercover officers pretended to be buyers and met with Sam Shahbazi, 20, at an apartment complex in Citrus Heights and arrested him, she said.

Other undercover officers met with two Sacramento men in a store parking lot on Northgate Boulevard on the pretense of buying the other set of tires and rims, Gunther said. They arrested Gabriel Castillon Garcia, 41, and his son, Edwin Gabriel Garcia, 19, she said.

In addition, officers noticed that the Chevrolet Suburban driven by the Garcias was equipped with custom tires and rims reported stolen Aug. 19 in Roseville, Gunther said.

Gunther said the three suspects were booked on suspicion of grand theft, conspiracy and possession of stolen property.

Call The Bee's Art Campos, (916) 773-2825.