Vintage_Cyclist

Always report stolen bikes. Make the cops take the report. Depending on the jurisdiction they may or may not actually pay attention to crime trends. In most areas a theft of something worth over $1,000 is a felony/grand larceny and PDs measure felony trends much closer, since they are reportable to the FBI and are used as an agency performance indicator by governments. Many people are riding bikes (plus value of any accessories) that exceed this level. Additionally, if you get into a tug-of-war situation with a thief over a bike, it's usually classified as a robbery, which is always a felony and treated more serious.

Confronting/chasing a bike thief. May be smart or stupid depending on a whole host of variables. You can pretty much assume that a bike thief has a weapon, at least in that they possess burglar tools (bolt cutter, screwdriver, etc.) that can be used to club or stab someone. Since they are thieving scumbags, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume they might possess a knife, box cutter, gun, etc. You can also assume, that if running away is not an option, they will absolutely fight you -- they're perps! A bike thief is likely someone who has been arrested before, may be a drug user, may have a warrant out for him, etc. They fight cops, they'll fight you if they have to.

Having some sort of defensive weapon is probably a good idea. Of course any possession of a weapon would have to be within the law, as would use of it. If you have a bike rack at work, that you monitor, like the above scenario, think ahead. What would you do? Let's say, for argument's sake, that you had a heavy, 3 foot length of chain with a big padlock on it, that was kept around the office as a spare lock for the bike rack? Reasonable and explainable possession of something that could be used to brain someone in self defense! There's also strength in numbers. If more than 1 person confronts a thief, his instinct will be to cut and run because he's outnumbered.

Now about that bike rack. Since this is a retail store, I would hazard a guess that they have an installed alarm system with some CCTV, at least covering the door and the cash register. Perhaps the store could be talked into adding a camera to cover the bike rack used by its customers. Maybe even put up a sign stating the bike rack is monitored. While this wouldn't necessarily deter a thief, it would provide a record of any thefts, and maybe a good shot of a perp's face, that the cops can use to catch and prosecute a thief.

eja_ bottecchia

I may have missed it in all the hoopla, but what was your co-worker's reaction?

Sinnman

Good on you for chasing him down. I only wish my coworkers and boss cared half as much as you did when my bike was stolen years ago. I was working in Toronto and had my brand new mountain bike U-locked through the frame and wheels around a parking meter directly in front of my office door. I went down at lunch to grab my bike and it was gone, along with the head of the parking meter. I ran back up to my office to call the police and my boss told me he and my coworkers saw the guy cutting the meter off the post. They thought he was a city employee, but thought it strange that he wasn't wearing a shirt! I'm pretty sure City of Toronto employees didn't walk around shirtless carrying giant pipe cutters.

Anyhow, way to go!

Cheers!
K

JimF22003

That was the mayor.

Jax Rhapsody

I managed to catch a thief once. my ex g/f and my friends bike was stolen. I caught the kid the next morning. it was a short bike chase. tricked him in to going back to my place using his story against him. turned out he knew somebody that lived in our complex and was scoping the place out. I put a box cutter to his throat and took the bike back.

i also managed to get back a bike stolen from me years ago, that I had stolen in middle school. it was stolen from the current owner who was a "crawl in" at the same complex. left at a bus stop a few blocks away, I brought it back to him when I saw him only explaining that I found it and he said keep it, cause nothing worked but the front brake. he had been wishing for it to be stolen to get one ofbthose walmart fs mtbs.

Dbird

Nice work!

italktocats

bike is back = misson succesful

rumrunn6

you are Hero

tigerteeuwen

I think you did the right thing, every situation has if's and but's.

If the car that went threw a red light caused an accident.... It didn't though. Thing is everything has something that can happen from doing something.

Your co worker probably would have never seen his bike again if you didn't do what you do, i think its pretty awesome of you and the driver to chase him down.

I once had a diamondback bmx (back in early 90's when they were good!) bike that was stolen twice, once when i lived in Surrey, and once when i lived in edmonton. The first time it was stolen the kid actually put some better parts on it, i got it back one day walking with my dad, he walked over and saw that it was my bike and threw the kid off it lol. The second time a kid who maybe lived four blocks from me stole it and destoryed the thing, painted the chrome bike camo..... anyways i was much older and bigger then the kid and i just went to his school found out who rode it and called him out on it, never hurt him tell the following winter when i gave him the biggest snow face wash of his life.....lol

zexzex

Good Save!

CenturionIM

well I applaud you my friend. I think only cyclists would go crazy like this for a bike. Most people including myself would be semi scared and just call a cop.

Personally I would call cop, jump in a car and discreetly follow the thief.

RLinNH

I have not read this entre thread, but I was moved to post by your post. Yup, you did the right thing by stopping a dirty bastard from stealing another person's bike. They mean a lot to us, and you should be proud. Personally, as a pissed off Iraq Vet, I would of loved to of seen the bike thief's nose bent on a sidewalk with the heel of my boot, but in today's society, you would of been in jail longer then the thief. So, Kuddos to you my friend. Have a beer, or a Root Beer, on me...