LgReno

Heres my story:

About 3 months ago, by brothers 2008 Brodie Romulus (cyclocross) and my dads Giant Cypress were stolen form our garage. This whole bike ordeal is what got me into bikes this year, as we needed to temporarily find an "old" bike for my brother to commute with. We went halvsies and got a vintage Torpado and im now hooked etc etc.... and now im constantly looking for bikes on craigslist.

Right... so last week im looking for some C&V on craigslist (montreal) and i see a post of what is the stolen bike (dark blue, same model same everything!)! Some Douchbag idiot posted it there for 700$ (pff... even more then what we paied for it since it was a demo). Says it was bought 4 years ago for 1050$ -not even close buddy... it didnt exist 4 years ago and never cost that mucht. Right away, pure bull****. Location of seller: 15 min bike ride from my house. the bike can almost be IDed my brothers just looking at unique parts: BBB bottle holder, BBB handle bar stem (shorter then original), black brodie decals (only on that specific demo), toe clips. got in touch via craigslist email. for reply 3 days later with address and #. same day called and went to see it with a friend. The guy there was old .. 50's, gray hair 5"7' glasses. I tried the bike and right away i knew. so clear... no doubts -thats it. went around the corner and confirmed with screws i put in personally to repair a loose toe clip s.t bolts do not match. came back and asked the guy "where did you get this bike?". He replies: "im selling it for an old friend of mine whose not good with the internet" and adds "it not 'hot', if you know what i mean". Im thinking at this point BULL**** but i say calmly: "ok. ok im taking it." and "im gonna get some cash at the ATM".

We get into the car and call the police. (we have a police report/ case number). They come with a cruiser within 10 mins and meet us at a street corner nearby. we tell em the story... get the story right and go pay the guy a visit. Littles does he know.... our thief, expecting to see two dudes with 700 cash at his door, finds himself in front of two huge cops. LOL

the cops come back around after a half hour with the bike in the back seat and we must go to the department to file in our declaration (why is it my brothers bike,.. what happened, what did i do, what was said.. etc.). The police will call within 2 weeks to release the bike. They believe its ours but have to have an investigator sign it off. However... the bike now legally belongs to the insurance company since we have claimed the theft of two bikes and replaced them. Still... we had to pay the deductible and the matter now became personal to catch the thief.

Worst case... the insurance company auctions it off...
or if it turns out the thief bought it in good faith from someone... then its his. montreal by-laws..meh.

riomx

Damn! That was a great read. I'm glad you kept your cool and handled it in the most civil way possible. You didn't let emotions get to your head, but instead made sure that the cops laid justice down upon the thief.

rugerben

awesome. hit them hard.

Great story.

Edit to add- you might want to remove the seller's e-mail from the posted pic. you don't want someone on seeing the pic and sending an e-mail to the guy saying "you got busted sucker!!!"

wtfnoob

Awesome!

CACycling

IIRC, most of the time any recovery goes to the insured to reimburse the deductible before the insurance company gets anything.

Burbs

He was old and short, you should have just thrown him down some stairs.

jk. good work man.

TL179

where in montreal did this hapenÉ Iève kind of knwon the cops to be indifferent to bike theft

mainducoyote

Good to ear you found the bike. I admire your self control for not confronting the guy directly. In my opinion, the guy probably bought it in a pawn shop though or he would not have put such a clear picture .

roccobike

Great story, glad you held your cool and let the law deal with him. By all means, offer to testify. BTW, I'd be surprised if the insurance Co asks for the return of the bike, probably not worth the paperwork to claim it. I'll bet the bike becomes yours or your brother.

daidalas

Solving mysteries can be fun. It's nice to hear a bike theft story with a semi-happy ending. Hope the bike ends up back in your stable!

Plouc.Qc

Glad you could find the thief and your bike!

I think you got lucky when the cops came 10 minutes after your call!! I've had a similar ''experience'' with the Montreal Police officers once , and they never showed up , even after 2 calls.

guygadois 

Awesome story!

BBnet3000

he wouldnt be the "thief" in that case.

and in fact he could help track the police to the thief. if he bought it in good faith, he is actually also getting screwed here if you have your money from the insurance company, the insurance company gets the bike, and he gets nothing.

LgReno

heres more info:

the man that was "selling" the bike for an old friend turns out was very cooperative (said the cops). His story holds true... that he is selling for an old friend that is not good with the internet. Thats what he told me and my firend before the cops showed up... and thats what he apparently told the cops when they went over there. These particular cops were very young.. maybe not even older then me (24). They were funny... and were cool to talk to... and gave me a glimpse of what went on with the guy. One of the cops feelings was that this guy wasn't the thief. The man then went on to give the cops the name of the guy he is selling it for. And from now on its up to the investigater to continue with this lead. Keeping in mind that there were two bikes stolen!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBnet3000

if he bought it in good faith, he is actually also getting screwed here if you have your money from the insurance company, the insurance company gets the bike, and he gets nothing.

So as for the current owner (an older man not good with the internet), if he bought this bike from someone else 'in good faith' he will still be the owner. not the insurance. period. And that would suck.

I just wanna catch the ****ers, thats all. I dont really care about the bikes ... they have been replaced. Its just the deductible that was a little ****ty.

And originally... the thiefs broke into the garage... and then also into the car that was in the garage... took the bikes... a digital camera in the car... the GPS>.. and my dads passport (working visa). The latter three were recoverd a week later in the corner of the lawn.. where one would only find himself there if he was mowing the lawn. and thats what happened. Super Sketch... and thats why we think they were teenagers that stole the stuff... getting freaked out by the gps maybe... and taking off with the bikes and later ditching them somewhere... where perhaps a person "found" them.

thats what i still think happened.

LgReno

In the west island... very close to st. jean boulevard south.

LgReno

I sure hope so...
afterall... i did all the work. Actually... my brother made a fake email to contact the guy... in case it was the actualy thief (in that case... a friggin moron) s.t. he wouldnt be able to check our names.. and find out our address (where the bike was stolen, lol)

while showing up to ID the bike i was known as Josh Nespen. Don't laugh.. my brother picked it.. i thought it was lame... but it was too late.. the email was already sent.

Blue Order

I don't know how it works in Montreal, but in the U.S., the good faith purchaser has ownership against all others EXCEPT for the person it was stolen from. Your ownership would trump his ownership...and because the insurance company paid you for it, the insurance company would be the true owner at this point.

urodacus

now, why would you do that? he deserves all kinds of sh1t that can be loaded on him. whether he actually stole it or 'merely' accepted stolen goods, he's still in the wrong.

tuz

Wow awesome story and great job.

LgReno

Well... im not a lawyer, im just reciting what the cops where explaining to me at the station. it would be interesting to know what really happens. Anyone with a background in law.... quebec law... eh eh ?

Sangetsu

You'd be surprised how little many police know about the law. You should be talking to your insurance company, they'll know more. The insurance company will sell the bikes at public auction, you should see if you can bid on them. You might get them back for as little as $50 each.

mainducoyote

If it was purchased in good faith you can't just take it back. What is recommended is to pay the buyer his purchase price and sue the person he bought it from to get your money back back. The other option is to bring every one involved to the small claims court to get the bike back, but it will take more time. That's what I learnt in my Law class last year anyways.

ilikebikes

I would have taken it for a "test ride"....all the way home. If recovering property that was stolen from me makes me a theif so be it.

LgReno

I hope that is what the case is. For less then 100 bucks id buy it back. We still dont know what happenend to the other bike (where is it?)

The insurance covered the cost of new bikes. The Romulus (the found one) retails for 890CND. My brother got a demo that had about 150clicks. He got a good deal paying as little as 470 inluding a bottle holder and shorter handlebar stem (BBB parts - that helped ID the bike) and toe clips. my dads was more like around 600$ including tax and kickstand plus lock. So we got 1490 minus 350 deductible.

If i can get em back id condider selling the bike for as much as i can to win back my deductible. but who knows by how much the insurance premium will go up by next year.... still kinda crappy.

LgReno

I had friends suggest blackmailing the guy. For eg... go over there... say... im taking my bike back... and YOU give me 700 bucks to cover for my losses and i wont call the cops. LOL

He wasnt the thief though.

I just want justice... (will be hard to come by though)
and getting the bike back is just bonus at this point.