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{{short description|Puerto Rican criminal}}
{{family name hatnote|Garcia|López|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Antonio García López <br>(''"Toño Bicicleta"'')
| image_name        = 
| image_size        = 
| image_caption     = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1943|7|19}}
| birth_place       = [[Puerto Rico]] {{ref|a|[note a]}}
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1995|11|29|1943|7|19}}
| death_place       = [[Lares, Puerto Rico]]
| charge            = Murder, kidnapping
| conviction_penalty = [[Life imprisonment]] from 1968
| conviction_status = Deceased
| occupation        = [[Farmer]]
| spouse            = 
| children          = 
| death_cause       = [[Gunshot wounds]]
}}
'''Francisco Antonio García López''' (July 19, 1943 – November 29, 1995), also known as '''''Toño Bicicleta''''' (literally, "Tony Bicycle" in [[English language|English]]), was a [[Puerto Ricans|Puerto Rican]] criminal who gained notoriety for escaping from prison several times. García López managed to become part of Puerto Rican [[folklore]] and the object of constant references in popular culture. His escapes became legendary in [[Puerto Rico]].

==Biography==
There are conflicting versions as to García López's birthplace. The police file states that he was born in [[Yauco, Puerto Rico]], but journalist and writer Alexis Morales Cales who specialized in the criminal's life, believes he was born in [[Maricao, Puerto Rico|Maricao]], specifically in the [[Indiera Alta]] [[Barrios of Puerto Rico|barrio]].<ref name=versiones>{{cite news|url=http://elvocero.com/versiones-encontradas-sobre-la-muerte-de-tono-bicicleta/|title=Versiones encontradas sobre la muerte de Toño Bicicleta|author=Rivera Puig, Miguel|publisher=El Vocero|date=November 20, 2015|accessdate=November 21, 2015}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Others still believe he was born in [[Lares, Puerto Rico|Lares]].

García's parents were Esteban García Medina and Antonia López Vargas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bibliotecadigital.uprrp.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/fotoselmund/id/2107/rec/5|title=Padre de Toño Bicicleta|publisher=El Mundo (via UPR Río Piedras)|author=Matos, Rafael|date=February 6, 1988|accessdate=November 22, 2015}}</ref><ref name=recuerdo /> There are conflicting stories regarding how he came to be known as ''Toño Bicicleta'': one, because he was said to get around on an old bicycle,<ref name="Méndez-Méndez Fernandez 2015 p. 183">{{cite book | last=Méndez-Méndez | first=S. | last2=Fernandez | first2=R. | title=Puerto Rico Past and Present: An Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition: An Encyclopedia | publisher=ABC-CLIO | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-4408-2832-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PnnCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA183 | access-date=August 7, 2019 | page=183}}</ref> and the other, because he stole a bike in his youth.<ref name="Sun-Sentinel.com 1996">{{cite web | title=PUERTO RICAN 'BANDIDO' VENERATED, AND DESPISED | website=Sun-Sentinel.com | date=February 12, 1996 | url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1996-02-12-9602120005-story.html | access-date=August 7, 2019}}</ref>

García's first wife was called Antonia Rivera. They had three children together: Francisco Antonio, María Milagros, and Carmen Dolores.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bibliotecadigital.uprrp.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/fotoselmund/id/2071/rec/32|title=Ex-mujer e hijos de Toño Bicicleta|publisher=El Mundo (via UPR Río Piedras)|author=Rodríguez, Mandín|date=August 12, 1974|accessdate=November 22, 2015}}</ref>

===Criminal history===
According to the police investigation, in 1968 Antonio García murdered his then wife, Gloria Soto, with a machete.<ref name=recuerdo>{{cite news|url=http://elvocero.com/vivo-en-el-recuerdo-tono-bicicleta/|title=Vivo en el recuerdo "Toño Bicicleta"|author=Rivera Puig, Miguel|publisher=El Vocero|date=November 16, 2015|accessdate=November 21, 2015}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=pistola>{{cite news|url=http://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/nota/sinpreciopistolaqueestuvoenmanosdetonobicicleta-662133/|title=Sin precio pistola que estuvo en manos de Toño Bicicleta|newspaper=Primera Hora|date=June 22, 2015|accessdate=November 21, 2015}}</ref> For this crime, García was sentenced to 185 years in prison.<ref name=pistola /> However, he managed to escape two years later.

In 1974, García was again captured by a civilian in a farm in the [[Guaraguao]] barrio of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]]. He was incarcerated in the prison of Sabana Hoyos in [[Arecibo, Puerto Rico|Arecibo]], until 1981 when he escaped again. In 1984, he broke in the house of [[Gilberto Pérez Valentín]], mayor of the town of [[Maricao, Puerto Rico|Maricao]]. According to Pérez, García stole some silver coins, food, a machete, a flashlight, and a [[Smith & Wesson]] .45 caliber gun.<ref name=pistola />

García's numerous escapes helped him become part of the local lore. Allegedly, during his escapes he would continue committing rapes and kidnappings. Some of the women that were allegedly kidnapped by García during the 1970s were Luz Celenia Caraballo and Aurea Esther Camacho.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bibliotecadigital.uprrp.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/fotoselmund/id/2073/rec/7|title=Luz Celenia Caraballo, joven secuestrada por Toño Bicicleta|publisher=El Mundo (via UPR Río Piedras)|author=Torres, Ruperto|date=April 19, 1974|accessdate=November 22, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bibliotecadigital.uprrp.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/fotoselmund/id/2081/rec/10|title=Aurea Esther Camacho, joven secuestrada por Toño Bicicleta|publisher=El Mundo (via UPR Río Piedras)|author=Torres, Ruperto|date=1974|accessdate=November 22, 2015}}</ref> In 1981, García kidnapped Olga Iris Despiau Cabán from her home in Arecibo. According to Despiau, García threatened to kill her father with a knife if she didn't comply. She remained with the fugitive until 1984, when he abandoned her during a raid. Some time later, García kidnapped her a second time until her family managed to rescue her.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/nota/revivenatonobicicleta-329687/|title=Reviven a Toño Bicicleta|newspaper=Primera Hora|date=November 10, 2009|accessdate=November 29, 2015}}</ref> He also tried to kidnap Luz Delia Soler during the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bibliotecadigital.uprrp.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/fotoselmund/id/2105/rec/31|title=Joven madre salvada de ser secuestrada por Toño Bicicleta|publisher=El Mundo (via UPR Río Piedras)|author=Matos, Rafael|date=February 13, 1988|accessdate=November 22, 2015}}</ref> Some people claim that due to his notoriety he was used as some sort of scapegoat both by authorities and civilians to several crimes on the island.<ref name="scapegoated">{{cite news |last1=Rivera Puig |first1=Miguel |title=Invisibles varias de sus fechorías |url=https://issuu.com/vocero.com/docs/v11172015 |accessdate=25 August 2020 |work=El Vocero de Puerto Rico |date=7 November 2015 |language=es |quote=...y otros hechos que se le atribuyen. Algunos ciertos, otros falsos.(...and other deeds attributed to him. Some correctly, others falsely.)}}</ref>

In 1987, García killed his stepfather, Antonio Caraballo Gonzales, and then tried to burn the body. After that, his mother Antonia Garcia was able to flee from the crime scene. Then he killed his uncle, Pablo López Vargas, in Maricao.<ref name=versiones /> On January 31, 1988, García killed Luis Rodríguez and kidnapped his 14-year-old girlfriend, Dahiana Pérez Lebrón. The girl stayed with the criminal for eight years during which he raped her and forced her to sleep with her feet chained.<ref name=recuerdo /><ref name=versiones /> Dahiana was with him at the moment of his last showdown with authorities in 1995.

===Death and burial===
In the morning of November 29, 1995, García was allegedly working in a coffee plantation in the Castañer ward of Lares, Puerto Rico. Police arrived at 7:20 am and Officer Luis Rosa Merced of the [[Puerto Rico Police Department]] shot the notorious criminal in the genitals. According to the police report, García resisted the arrest and tried to attack Rosa with a machete. As he threw himself to the ground, he shot García, fatally injuring him.<ref name=versiones /> According to Dahiana Pérez, García did not die immediately, but was kicked and mocked by the officers while he bled to death.<ref name=recuerdo />

At the time of his death, García was described as being 5 feet 2 inches and weighing 130 pounds. His funeral was held at Irizarry Funeral Home in Lares, and his body was buried in that town's cemetery.<ref name=versiones /> Despite the fact that he was a criminal, assassin and rapist, and some welcomed his death, thousands of people attended his funeral. He had become a kind of legend<ref name="Sun-Sentinel.com 1996"/> because of his constant appearance, during a 14-year period, in {{lang|es|El Vocero}}, Puerto Rico's popular newspaper, at the time.<ref name="LA CALLE Digital 2017">{{cite web | title=Toño Bicicleta: A 20 años de su muerte en la memoria del periodista Julio Víctor Ramírez, padre | website=LA CALLE Digital | date=May 6, 2017 | url=https://lacallerevista.com/locales/tono-bicicleta-a-20-anos-de-su-muerte-en-la-memoria-del-periodista-julio-victor-ramirez-padre/27997 | language=es | access-date=August 7, 2019}}</ref>

==References in popular culture==
* In 1978, [[France|French]] writer Georges Londreix, who had been living in Puerto Rico during the 1970s and was the director of the local chapter of the [[Alliance Francaise]], edited ''Tonio Bicicleta'', a [[novel]] about García López written in [[French language|French]]. It was subsequently translated to [[Spanish language|Spanish]].{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}
* In the early 1970s, [[Tony Croatto]], then paired with his sister Nelly, had a minor pop music hit in Puerto Rico titled "La Bicicleta de Toño" ("Toño's Bicycle").
* In the early 1990s, local rock band La Mancha del Jardín released a song titled "Toño Bicicleta".
* In the early 1990s, local rock band [[Puya (band)|Puya]] mentioned Toño Bicicleta in their song "El Chupacabra".
* A different song named "Toño Bicicleta" was recorded by Spanish-Puerto Rican [[thrash metal]] band [[Tripijb|Juerguistas y Borrachos]].
* In the late 1990s, a local film titled ''La Noche Que Se Apareció Toño Bicicleta'' (''The Night that Toño Bicicleta Appeared'') was released.
* In 2007, the [[Calle 13 (band)|Calle 13]] song ''"La Crema"'' on the album ''[[Residente o Visitante]]'' makes reference to Toño Bicicleta as part of a laundry list of Puerto Rican culture and lore.
* A [[diss track]] towards [[Tego Calderón]] called "Wasa Wasa" by Puerto Rican rapper [[Temperamento]], makes reference to Toño Bicicleta on the following verse ''"Aguanta esa boca tienes los cachetes llenos de coca, tu si que eres feca, eres tan horrible que ni Toño te prestaba la Bicicleta"''. Put up with that mouth, your cheeks are full of coke, you really are fake, you are so horrible that not even Toño would lend you the Bicycle."
* In the song "Dale Pal Piso" of Watussi Ft. Jowell & Randy and Ñengo Flow, It refers to ''"Toño Bicicleta"''.

==See also==
{{Portal|Puerto Rico}}
*[[List of Puerto Ricans]]

==Notes==
:1.{{note|a}}There's disagreement among authorities as to the precise town within Puerto Rico where García López was born. Some state he was born in [[Yauco, Puerto Rico|Yauco]], others say it was in [[Maricao, Puerto Rico|Maricao]]. Still others say in [[Lares, Puerto Rico|Lares]]. See article for more details.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090422042333/http://suburbanjusticefilms.blogspot.com/2009/02/bicycle-race.html Suburban Justice - Bicycle Race 2/16/2009]
*[http://www.elnuevodia.com/losprofugosmasescurridizosdepuertorico-1155533.html Los prófugos más escurridizos de Puerto Rico] on ''[[El Nuevo Día]]''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicicleta, Toño}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:Escapees from Puerto Rican detention]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:People from Lares, Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Puerto Rico]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican escapees]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican folklore]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican rapists]]
[[Category:Deaths from bleeding]]
[[Category:People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Puerto Rico]]