If you catch someone trying to steal your bike- what are your rights?
 

If I caught someone stealing my bike, I would introduce his face to the pavement.

If you're going to commit an act of violence, be very prepared to prove that the bike is yours. If you're beating the hell out of someone, the thief could easily say to the cop who rolls up that you are beating him up to steal HIS bike.

Know the serial number of your bike, put some kind of identifying mark(s) somewhere hidden (such as a floppy disk label attached to the bottom of your saddle with your name on it).

You have the right to protect your property, and most cops will agree with your means, but a judge may not

A business card inside the handlebars is one of my favorite tricks. Easy to get at.

My ancestors hung horse thieves when they caught 'em. Morally, a bike thief is on the same level, so how about the same punishment?

'GET A ROPE!

Okay, here's exactly what you need—an uninformed opinion from someone with no legal training or experience. I think you ceertainly have the right to stop the theft, but you'd be taking a big risk if you perpetrated an act of violence beyond what may be required to retrieve your bike. If you give this (alleged) slimeball a buttkicking to "teach him a lesson," I can see all manner of legal consequences.

I seem to remember a case—in America, where they're even more tolerant of this kind of thing—of some people who caught a burglar in their home. They did him up a treat, including a few fairly consequential whacks on the hip and leg with a baseball bat after he had been subdued, and oddly enough, they videotaped the encounter. You guessed it—they were up on much more serious charges than the burglar.

Um, I think that if there was evidence that he was indeed trying to steal your bike (tools, witnesses, etc) and you detained him by pinning him rapidly to the ground until police could be summoned then I don't think any DA would prosecute you. Even if what you did was not legal would a jury really convict you or applaud you?

I like the horse thief analogy.

Grab'em.. and beat'em into submission. I don't believe I should be nice to a crook, they should be tied to a stump in the swamp and let the creatures take care of'em.

Oh, and if a crook breaks in your home.. You have every right to shoot on sight. Why wait 30 minutes for the cops to show up and you could be the one in a boyd bag? Yeah.. I'd rather shoot on sight.

kyle90 might want to check state laws before he catches someone in his house. In most states his actions would get him charged with manslaughter unless he reasonably believed his life to be in danger. Texas and a couple other states might be more lenient.

If I caught someone stealing my bike, I would approach them in my butchest manner and demand they unhand it. I bet they would too. If they didn't, I'd grab the bike from them. If they fought back, I would defend myself the best I could with no worries if I damaged them. In my mind that would be the moral thing to do, and I believe the law would back me up.

Always keep your bike locked. Before you fight for it, make sure it is your bike. I heard about somebody who shot a guy stealing his car, only to find out it wasn't his car--just the same model and color. OOPS!

You guys need to watch "Beijing Bicycle". Don't want to spoil it, so let's just say it's relevant (and a good movie).

Don't know what I'd do if I saw someone lifting my bike. Seeing as I haven't left a bike outside since I moved back to NYC it hasn't been relevant for a loooong time. I'd be careful about administering a beatdown, at least in the sUeSA.

You might want to double check that. I've had a bike stolen from inside my house.

Thanks for the movie recommendation.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

That's low, dude. Your house is robbed and they take your bike. Did they shoot your dog too?

IANAL,but you should be ok for wrestling him to the ground and holding him until the cops arrive. It depends on your state's idea of a citizen's arrest.

http://www.constitution.org/grossack/arrest.htm

I think that shouting out LOUD something like "leave my bike alone you (add some nice adjective here)" should be enough to see the thief break the 100m record.
Of course I´m big, fat, ugly and mean looking (allthough I´m not mean at all :D )...

On the other hand, I had a roommate in this situation, and when he yelled, the thief tried to pull out a knife, so a fast kick in the chest of the scumbag and a few others kicks while he was on the floor did the trick.

This might sound violent, but even though around here is not very likely to have anyone pull a gun out, and the knife was just probably not going to be used for anything more than scare my friend to have an easy getaway, I wouldn´t want to wait and find out.

No, but they did get a pair of shoes and an answering machine. :mad:

Pretty much random I think.

Better to beat them good and let them run off to suffer than to hold them for the police. The law isn't going to do anything significant about an attempted bicycle theft. Slamming their face into the concrete won't be fatal but they will remember it for a long time.

Aim your cell phone at him like you are taking his picture and yell BUSTED.

I had someone steal a kitten once. That was pretty low.

In Texas, the law says that if you catch someone in the act of stealing your property, kill them. Every month or so, the Houston paper will have a story about some 12 year old kid who is stealing a hubcap. The owner of the car comes out of the house, and puts a bullet into the kid's head. Perfectly legal.

The rules in "civilized" portions of Planet Earth may differ substantially from the rules in Texas.

Oh yeah, that'll stop him. :rolleyes:

Use of deadly force is AUTHORIZED.

I hate theives. :mad:

Most places in the US do not allow the use of deadly force (which is often interpreted as any physical violence) in order to protect property.

The difference in shooting someone for braking into your house and someone breaking into your car is that you are not expected to retreat from your house.

When there's someone inside my house prowling around with no permission, I'm not going to wait until he rapes my daughter before I know if he's just there to steal.

KY law about deadly force has some fun things, like if you see someone breaking into your shed and stealing a lawmower, there's nothing you can do about it. If you see someone setting fire to your shed, you are within your rights to shoot them (the fire could spread to nearby houses). Also, if anyone is in the process of forcing entry to your home, they fall under the same rule.

Anyway, back to the original point...few places that I know of allow you to defend property with deadly force, with the exception of a shop owner defending his inventory / cash drawer.

God Bless Texas, and you're welcome for Davy Crockett.

I always find these topics funny as to the difference of opinion between what states people are from. Even if they don't say, you can pretty much tell what area of the country (or outside the US) guys reside.
In the Tenn., you can shoot someone if they're inside your home. I've even been told by people in the know, if you shoot someone in your yard, make sure you drag them inside and shoot them a second time so there is blood on the walls!
As far as beating the crap out of some guy for attempting to steal your bike/car/whatever, unless you cripple the guy or something, the cops aren't going to do anything to you.

So in the Excited States you can shoot somebody for stealing your bicycle?
Lord knows, if somebody stole my Atlantis, I would want to shoot them. Its not right though. You don't killl people for theft.

A friend of mine who is an ex-football player and mountain bike racer had his favourite bike stolen. Some weeks later he was walking downtown with his wife, and he saw a courier on his bike. He tackled the guy and sat on him while his wife phoned the cops. The police found that the thief had an outstanding drug warrant, so they took him away and let Chris keep his bike.

I figure you could just tackle any old courier and get his bike that way.

Old common law you can use lethal force to stop a criminal while he/she is committing the crime.

I knocked the bejesus out of the one punk I caught, and I'll do it to the next one I catch.

If it's a well used bike rack, just be darn sure he's taking your bike.

You'll feel pretty bad if you beat the tar out of someone taking his own bike...that just looked like yours.

But you'll have time to think about it...