I agree with 02Giant: The OP should go to jail for the bike shop messing up the serial number, and also have to give the bike back to the guy who purchased the stolen bike ... and reimburse the thief for calling him a "thief." Maybe he honestly mistook the OP's bike for his own.

When I read stories like this I am so outraged ... I may have to run for office so I can write and promote laws which properly protect the poor victimized thieves and painfully punish the people who enable thieves buy buying things which thieves can steal.

It is obviously entirely the OP's fault---if he hadn't bought a bike in the first place, he could never have been robbed. Obviously the OP caused the whole problem.

Stories like this just burn me up. I hate it when thieves cannot make a profit, and hate it even more when people get robbed and then think they have a right to get their stuff back.

The OP actually thinks he is the "victim" of a "crime"???? Hah. Obviously he is responsible for the theft because of what he did after the theft. He is also culpable for even owning a bike, which makes him doubly guilty. How can people not see how that makes perfect sense?