enine

Those kind are scary terms though. I carry some gear one me daily that coule be easily interpreted as burglarious instruments. So while they helped to add an additional charge on this moment, it could easily be used thw wrong way in another.

SouthFLpix

I'd physically detain them, but I wouldn't recommend doing the same to others. I have no wife/kids or anything to lose, so I just don't care.

rugerben

That's truly awesome. Well done. I at least hope it was good beer that you got!!! for what you did, it better be.

ItsJustMe

Whu? If the thief is really that pencil-necked. I can't come close to getting a U lock around my neck, and I'm no weightlifter.

MadCapsule

If he hadn't already passed away, he'd be my arch-nemesis.

mds0725

I wonder why the people who write the "Batman" movies haven't thought of a "mime arch nemesis" yet. Batman already gets all the good dialogue.....

Hydrated

No. It is not just a pile of parts. You give up precious hours of your life to earn money. You then give that money for food, shelter, and the things that you need or want. So you buy that bicycle with hours from your life that could've been otherwise spent with family, friends, or just a good book or movie... instead of working.

So when someone steals from you, they are stealing time from your life because they are too lazy or stupid to work for themselves. They steal your time so that they can use their time any way that they want.

Trust me... if I catch someone stealing from me, the thief will pay. Depending on the situation, it may not involve violence at all. But they will pay. Just use your head... be smart... don't do something that is going to be an obvious indefensable crime. If you're a normal, law-abiding citizen, position yourself so that the authorities have an excuse to take your side against the criminal.

Lemme give you an example (warning: long story alert):
So back to the bike thief sceario... If I caught the thief in the act and have the drop on him... I'm gonna do some damage to him. Then claim that he came at me. If he doesn't have a weapon, I sure thought he did. And the chances of my getting my butt whipped are zero... if I have the initial advantage, he will never get the chance.

GodsBassist

I vote pepper spray, but that's a personal choice. I'm 5'7" and 125 pounds, and that's for dang sure the only way I'm defending myself against the threatening gestures he made at me when I told him to get away from my bike...

Heckboy

I would belly crawl into the bushes next to my bike silently cradling a six foot two by four. Just as the thief grasps the handlebars to turn the bike towards his proposed escape route I'd spring like a crazy white ninja and pop him right across the ear with the 2X4. As he turns cupping his ear with a hand and making that "whaaa...?" expression I'd pop his hand covering the ear and with the utmost in grace and speed jam the end of the 2X4 into his nads. The beating would continue in such a manner until he decides that running isn't such a bad way of getting around after all...

lil brown bat

Have you ever tried to "physically detain" someone who didn't want to be detained? I'm just curious, since you and some others seem to think it's no big deal. Me, I spend part of my time teaching little kids to ski, and I can attest to the fact that they're damn hard to "physically detain" when they don't want to be. It's not going to get any easier with an adult, believe me.

SouthFLpix

I'll try my best to detain him, even to the point of using violence. Even if he manages to get away, he won't forget that experience and it will discourage him from stealing again. If he tries something silly like coming after me with bolt cutters or a prybar or something like that, I'll just step back and shoot him. I have a concealed weapons license, and in FL we don't have to attempt to 'run away' from someone attacking us with a weapon. We have a 'stand your ground' law. If he tries to use a weapon he will be dead, and that's the bottom line.

urplasticfacade

Haha, hilarious

rugerben

As someone who carries a concealed pistol every single day, please don't make us look bad by sounding like some loony vigilante on a message board. For the sake of all of us.

SouthFLpix

You have your opinion and I have mine. If someone comes after me with bolt cutters, he's going down. I just don't care enough about a thief to think twice.

genec

Bike... upwards of a thousand dollars or so.

Calling the police... the price of a phone call.

Waiting patiently for the police to catch him in the act... priceless.


The only other thing you might do is surround the ahole with a bunch of like minded folks that maintain a hands off policy while waiting for "the man."

nycphotography

Legally wrong. Ethically... Not so fast.

I don't let cockroaches live in my kitchen. Why should I let them live on my street?

apricissimus 

Do you really think the police are going to get there in time to catch him with your bike?

SouthFLpix

Of course not. The only way they will catch him if it's an undercover sting, like they do in London with the gps locator beacon hidden on the bottom of the saddle.

genec

Really... nah... unless you happened to be right at the donut shop.

kylejack

The most important question is: Do I have my U-lock with me?

rugerben

if you walk up to a guy who is in the process of stealing the bike, doesn't it stand to reason that the u-lock is probably on the bike? For that matter, I'd be willing to bet the u-lock is in the hands of the thief who is trying to defeat it.

I agree 100% with your attitude and your stance. It was the way your message was worded that made it sound like a guy who was just waiting for a reason to kill someone, and who could do so without even caring. My only critique was the wording of your original message. Our opinions are one and the same.

Personally, I'm not sure what I'd do. Call po-po. Take the guy's picture, and then I don't really know what from there.

genec

I had the same problem years ago with taggers... they would come and mark my property with their signs and then vanish. I caught them in the act a few times but I knew the police would never get there in time nor would I be able to physically catch them... not to mention that they could be armed.

I never did figure out a good solution.

Vipon

I hate thieves and can protect myself. If I caught him in the act he wouldn't get away, and he would still be there when the cops came.

lil brown bat

Really? Have you ever "used violence" on anyone? What were the circumstances and how did it go?

I ask because the intarwebs are full of people who talk about how they would settle this or that problem in a physical manner, and yet have little or no experience or training in doing so. I can't say that I have ever had to solve a problem with physical force, although I do have some training. Perhaps it's having had some training and used it in practice situations that makes me less than confident that an untrained, unpracticed person would be able to successfully use physical force against an uncooperative opponent.

Heathenix

About 6 months ago I caught a teenager in the act of stealing my 11 year old's bike. It was on a rural road, and as I was driving my son to the school bus stop to get his bike after picking him up from his after school program, I spotted a kid walking down the street with it (my son's bike). I hit the gas (nearly hard enough to give my son whiplash) tore up the street, slewed the car across the road in front of the kid and tore a strip up one side of him and down the other. Nothing like a serious hit of adrenaline to help you make your point. No violence necessary, I highly doubt that taking a bike that doesn't belong to him will *ever* cross this kid's mind again, and I rose *seriously* in the estimation of my son and all of his friends.