Living Car Free - Would You Stop A Bike Thief That Is Just Like You Or Even A Beautiful Girl?

http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/stop-bike-thief-10589721 (http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/stop-bike-thief-10589721)

Here Is An interesting hidden camera experiment On 3 different types of people (White Male, Black Male & A Stunning Blonde Female) stealing the same bike, wearing the same clothes (at least the males-the girl wore skimpy clothes) in a city park right in the middle of the day. After you see the video series (this link above is Part One-make sure you tune in the rest of the section), ask yourselves what would you do if you were there?

I bet the men would fell under the spell of the pretty bike thief girl!

I dunno if a cute blond would need to steal a bike. Don't they have their boyfriends for that?

Black guy: TASERED!
White guy: TASERED!
Me asking cute blond out: Hey wanna go out sometime?
Ahahah not with a loser like you! ...TASERED!

My justice doesn't discriminate...black/white/cute ALL TASERED!

There are my answers.

That was amazing. Thanks for posting!

What I'd be worried about would be getting accused that I'm assaulting the female. Maybe I could turn the tables and yell at her for sleeping with my best friend.

A real bike thief would carry one of those portable grinders. He/She would be through that chain before the paster got to catch his breath.. probably less than 30 seconds. The video is, in that sense, bogus. The people passing by were probably wondering why the thief was so stupid.

That's probably what I would think, too -- must be an idiot, and must've been dumb enough to lose his key.

One scenario they could add would be to put the "thief" in a Park Service shirt.

I didn't see the blonde girl in the video segment. Just the black and white guys.

Hhhhmmmmm....you gotta wonder if the white folks would have been that confrontational if the black guy was as beefy as the white guy. That black guy looked pretty small. Something tells me, if he was, some of them just would have whipped out their cell phones - away from him - and called the police.

I agree with some of the posters above though, a real bike thief wants to get in and out of there quick. They definitely don't want to attract attention, which includes not making eye contact or engaging in any conversation.

Now, to tackle the real question, would I do anything? I honestly don't know. I would have to be pretty sure that the bike wasn't his before I placed a call. However, if I got the same answers both actors gave out, I wouldn't hesitate to call but it's doubtful that a thief would be that obliging.

I didn't see the blonde girl in the video segment. Just the black and white guys.

Hhhhmmmmm....you gotta wonder if the white folks would have been that confrontational if the black guy was as beefy as the white guy. That black guy looked pretty small. Something tells me, if he was, some of them just would have whipped out their cell phones - away from him - and called the police.

I agree with some of the posters above though, a real bike thief wants to get in and out of there quick. They definitely don't want to attract attention, which includes not making eye contact or engaging in any conversation.

Now, to tackle the real question, would I do anything? I honestly don't know. I would have to be pretty sure that the bike wasn't his before I placed a call. However, if I got the same answers both actors gave out, I wouldn't hesitate to call but it's doubtful that a thief would be that obliging.

When you scroll downward, you will find the little thumbnail for Part 2 Is Blonde a Bike Thief or Damsel in Distress?: http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/blonde-bike-thief-damsel-distress-10589753?tab=9482930&section=9660855&playlist=9663633 (http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/blonde-bike-thief-damsel-distress-10589753?tab=9482930&section=9660855&playlist=9663633)

This is the most eye-popping part of this segment. My apologies for being lazy too and not scrolling down to check for the link.

The scenes were corny but I noticed how many congregated around the black guy as if he were a street dancer. The woman who was snapping photos with the camera phone was the best. The white guy had ten people pass which was no big deal. The girl is another story. The problem with each scenario is that there was no timer so we don't know which thief was there the longest to gain such a reaction.

I've given this some thought before.

If I see someone working on a bike lock with tools, I'm going to act as if the bike is mine and ask "what the hell are you doing to my bike!?". If the guy runs off then I know he was a thief. If the guy confidently states that he owns the bike, I'll assume he's telling the truth.

(although the video isn't about bike thieves, it is about stereotyping)

The shot of the girl video, where they say, "Remember our other bike thieves?", as they saunter towards the camera... :lol:

There's no doubt that it's not about bikes, but about stereotyping instead. And as a white male, I'm pretty embarrassed..

And poor "Reg", who, on national TV, totally ignored his wife as he stepped up to help steal the bike.

I have zero tolerance for bike thieves. I have had a bike of mine stolen; when it happened, I was even poorer than I am now and had to save up for a long time to replace it. Gender and race make no difference to me. I assume that if you don't have a key you are probably stealing.

I would make a scene, if that did not deter the thief I would not hesitate to call the police. God help you if you are trying to steal my bike.

The scenes were corny but I noticed how many congregated around the black guy as if he were a street dancer. ....


HA!!!! Try lynch mob! I got such an uncomfortable feeling when they started to surround him.

Thanks Folder Fanatic for providing a convenient link to the blonde segment.

You know some of you guys should bow your heads in shame.

For shame...for shame...:notamused::notamused:

The best proactive one of the lot was the female runner who observed the fake femal thief, made a silent judgement call, then walked a little away and called the police.

But, as BarracksSi said, it's really about stereotyping.

I'm sure if the thief was a senior citizen (male or female, white black or hispanic) something tells me people would help out too. You know how helpless us old farts are.:rolleyes:

i wonder what would happen if they hired an actor to form a ruckus around the white guy, like the first man did with the black actor. It might have been more about the one brave person to step and take a stand to make everyone else feel brave and stand up to the thief too. It's probably not the case, but its a nice thought.

If another guy tried to steal my bike, his blood would run red in the street, regardless of color.

If I wanted a woman to take a bike out of my life, I'd marry her.

And poor "Reg", who, on national TV, totally ignored his wife as he stepped up to help steal the bike.
Reg ain't getting laid for a looong time. :lol:


Hhhhmmmmm....you gotta wonder if the white folks would have been that confrontational if the black guy was as beefy as the white guy.
I wouldn't describe being out-of-shape as "beefy"...

And to all the people pointing out that the passerbys are wondering why the bike thief is so stupid, this is a moot point.
1) The person is obviously not a professional bike thief (so what?)
2) They are still trying to steal the bike (and therefore, the right thing to do would be to report them)

These videos were fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

The stereotyping is not surprising, although the degree it manifested itself was. It really burned me up to watch people on bicycles do nothing about an admitted bicycle thief in the first segment, then actually assist an admitted thief in the second video. I would think that a cyclist would find it fairly easy to put themselves in the shoes of the bicycle's owner.

I've never actually come across a bicycle theft in progress, but I would stop and question someone trying to forcedly remove a locking chain regardless of race or sex. Sadly, if they where able to convincingly tell me it was their bike I would be at a loss of what to do regarding it - however, there would be a police call made certainly if they admitted to theft.
Unfortunately, being male and at the mercy of my own hormones - the pretty blond might have an easier time convincing me, and even getting a hand - if I thought it was her bike. The men who actually helped her steal a bicycle knowingly should be ashamed that a pretty girl could convince them to become accessories to a crime in progress without even trying. I've done some things that I thought where a little questionable to impress a pretty girl - but to commit a crime? Never.

As to direct physical confrontation as some have suggested, I consider that a last resort action and only if it was my bike or I knew the owner. You never know what weapons people are carrying and I'd rather not find out what kind of damage bolt cutters could do to a person - I am not likely to risk injury over an anonymous stranger's property. That's what the police are for. Take some pictures so the police have something to go on if they don't arrive fast enough, call in a report, and keep an eye on the situation from a safe distance.

Great video,
My guess would be that in plain daylight in a park, most people's first impression if someone has a big bag of tools and is not acting suspicious is that they lost the key to their own bike lock.
If it takes you longer than 60 seconds you don't know what you are doing anyway.

Americas racist... what moron didn't already know that?

America(')s racist...
Name a country that isn't.

... and how is this a Living Car Free thread?

Peeked in on this again, just to see what else has been said.

I'll just summarize what I said earlier: if you have your hands on my bike, I will have your blood on my hands. But you will NOT get my bike.

personaly, i dont think id bat an eye at either guy, but the blonde, id help her. on the other hand theres a couple rules that aply here:

rule #52 - Never ask when you can take
rule #218b - Sometimes what you get free costs entirely too much.
rule #285 - No good deed ever goes unpunished.

i think another acting flaw in this video was the age of the actors. I might be an old fart, but i tend to give an adult the benefit of doubt. Teenagers, i assume they are always up to no good. I was when i was that kids age.

I imagine my response would depend upon who i was with. If i'm with my girlfriend, or nephews, i generally avoid all confrontation. If i'm alone or with another adult male, i might check into things.

This thing is typical of our idiotic mass media ... why aren't they doing real investigative reporting? If these clowns weren't manufacturing stories like this maybe they could be breaking real news stories - like finding another prostitute who had sex with Tiger Woods ...

All I know is, if they were stealing my bike, they'd get a closeline. Don't care what race/gender they were. It's gonna take me a month and a half to buy a $975 bike. Unless they've got a gun, they are not getting away with my baby.

I'm going to have to watch these when I get home.

Another question this brings up for me, comes from a thread I read in the commuting forum. Somebody said that many bike thieves will put their own U-lock on your bike while you're in the store, then come back at 3 am under the relative safety of the night. If I came to a bike rack and saw somebody hacking away at a lock, saying that somebody else had locked their bike, I don't think I'd believe them ... but if it happened to me, what would I do? I certainly don't ride around with the receipt to my bike, so I'd have a hard time convincing anybody else it was mine, too.

I'm going to have to watch these when I get home.

Another question this brings up for me, comes from a thread I read in the commuting forum. Somebody said that many bike thieves will put their own U-lock on your bike while you're in the store, then come back at 3 am under the relative safety of the night. If I came to a bike rack and saw somebody hacking away at a lock, saying that somebody else had locked their bike, I don't think I'd believe them ... but if it happened to me, what would I do? I certainly don't ride around with the receipt to my bike, so I'd have a hard time convincing anybody else it was mine, too.

Well, where I live bicycles are licensed so it would be easy enough to call 911 and report it to the police. They can check the records and verify you are the owner. They do remove and impound bicycles that are illegally parked even when they are locked so they might even remove the lock for you.

Well, where I live bicycles are licensed so it would be easy enough to call 911 and report it to the police. They can check the records and verify you are the owner. They do remove and impound bicycles that are illegally parked even when they are locked so they might even remove the lock for you.

Even if it's not licensed, I think most cops would believe you if you reported it as stolen before you took the lock off. It just doesn't seem that likely that a thief would call the police to help him steal a bike. Besides, most cops don't really care who owns a bike or who steals one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbklkFuFk-4

There's no doubt that it's not about bikes, but about stereotyping instead. And as a white male, I'm pretty embarrassed..

.

So apologize.

Police response to a crime in progress around here is usually under three minutes. I'd call it in as suspicious activity, and let them sort it out. If it really is the "thief's" bike, they'll have better tools available, and will usually help out if for no other reason than to stop anyone else from calling it in. If I'm driving, I usually have my DSLR with a 300mm lens, so I can sit back a ways and still get really good photos from a safe distance.

Sure, either way I have a handgun on me, and usually pepper spray too, but simple theft in the daytime isn't a force-justifying situation, and as long as I can get the guy caught in the act, it's a lot cheaper than any of the things that can go wrong if I confront him.

Call it in, give a statement if needed, go home. Confront, and even if there's no contact, he might still claim assault, causing a lot of hassle. While working security, I've been accused of "smacking" a drunk trespasser with a big Mag light when the cops knew full well that all I had on me was a 2AA pocket light, he had no injuries whatsoever, and didn't make the claim until after he'd had 24 hours to sober up. It still cost me about two hours of writing and pointing out evidence, and cost my company a bit for the lawyer. If I'd called the cops on him right at the start instead of waiting until after I confronted him, my part would have been done within two minutes and cost the company nothing.

So apologize.

Hell no. :p