Advocacy & Safety - Craig's List

Given that a certain Craig's List posting has resurfaced. Here's a good question. Let's say that someone has their bike stolen and finds pictures of it posted to Craig's List (or similar site) what steps would they need to take in order to get it back? Should they buy it back and then pursue charges or what?

Contact the seller and arrange to meet them. Bring some friends and a baseball bat.

Speedo

I've heard of people having success with visiting the bike and calling the cops after confirming the bike. Trying to take the bike from thief can be bad, some times they carry guns.

or this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b24EOEmSmM

or this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMOivUHp7Vo

In some cities, the police have worked with the owner to arrange a meeting and arrest the person that shows up with the bike.

old-skool 3 irons work pretty well.

Given that a certain Craig's List posting has resurfaced. Here's a good question. Let's say that someone has their bike stolen and finds pictures of it posted to Craig's List (or similar site) what steps would they need to take in order to get it back? Should they buy it back and then pursue charges or what?
First thing is to make sure they have the serial number. As much as you may think it's yours, it's not that hard for a thief to claim it's his as long as you don't have proof you actually own it.

First thing is to make sure they have the serial number. As much as you may think it's yours, it's not that hard for a thief to claim it's his as long as you don't have proof you actually own it.

Good advice. If the thief has the serial number and you don't have a proof of purchase, you lose.

If you have insurance, claim it. If not, let it go. Anyone that steals a bike may be dangerous. It's not worth getting hurt or killed trying to get a bike back.

In some cities, the police have worked with the owner to arrange a meeting and arrest the person that shows up with the bike.

That's probably one of the better Ways of dealing with it. And to help identify it when going with to the police to have some way of identifying it besides the s/n. Such as a piece of paper in the seat tube or handlebars with your name and address on it.

Fortunately here in St. Pete one can register their bike with the police department as part of that process they "run" the s/n to make sure that it isn't already stolen. Plus the shop where I purchased my bike offered free registration with the national bike registry program. So my bike is registered with both the St. Pete police and the national bike registry. And I carry all the numbers with me on my PDA.

Which hopefully and in theory means if it's stolen I should have a decent chance of getting it back.

The thieves here are smart enough to not post real photos of the bike. But instead google up the bike on internet and post a stock photo of it. At least that's what the ones here do.

Argh...bike theft. I get the impression that the police aren't nearly as willing to cooperate and help bring justice to such situations as we'd want them to. I'm pretty new to owning a bicycle as an adult but for what it's worth, I've registered it at National Bike Registry (http://nationalbikeregistry.com/) and BikeRegistry.com (http://bikeregistry.com/). National Bike Registry sent me a certificate in the mail that included a cutout card to keep in my wallet. I also keep a copy of the original receipt for the bike's purchase and wrote the serial number on it. I hope that'll be more than enough evidence for whatever awful situations arise from theft.

Arrange to meet up with the guy at his house. Park your car blocks away so that he doesn't see what you drive. Check out of the bike. Ask him questions about it. If you know that it is yours and he is acting sketchy, ask for a test ride and never come back or tell him you will be back with the money and come back with the police.