Riding the thin line between biker justice and vigilantism.
by Clint Hosman on March 12th, 2008
Ok so there are few worse things in the world then being a bike thief. While I have never had a bike out rightly stolen from me when I lived in New Orleans I did have some one break every part on my bike in while it was chained up to a sign. I guess that taught me to secure my property. Every now and again while you are out riding I know you see some homeless guy riding around on a bike you know he didn’t pay for. You think to yourself like I do “Some one out there in this cold dark world is crushed because this crack head stole their ride.†But what are you going to do? Go knock the guy off the bike and reclaim it in the name of cyclists every ware? No, you’re going to ride on and do nothing about it because you got no proof. Well finally the opportunity struck where I did have an opportunity to do something about it.
A couple of months ago the shop I ride out of here in PHX, Focus Cyclery had their doors busted in and three high-end Cannondales stolen. One of them showed up a couple weeks later on EBay but was sold to quick and the other two had yet to be found, that is until last night. I was out getting tacos with the wife and when we came out to the car I noticed my car tire was almost completely flat. We piled in and drove to the nearest gas station. The gas station sits about half way between my house and Focus. As I pull in and swing my car to the air pump I see a Cannondale hard tail chained up to a tree with a cheap cable lock securing it. The wife runs in to get some quarters and I move over out of sight to see the bike. As I get close I see it’s a team edition carbon fiber Taurine. The Bike seems to be calling out to me saying “My destiny was to kick ass on the dirt, not being locked up out side of a gas station to a tree.†I felt sympathy especially when I notice that whoever is riding it now had customized it with a pair of bar ends turned straight up. By this time we have to fill up the tire and hurry home because we are loosing pressure fast.
Back in the car I call Mike the owner of Focus and give him the run down on what I thought was his bike. It just so happens he was at dinner with the Cannondlae rep. The rep confirmed that there where only four of those frames in the state so this had to be the stolen one. Now here comes the moral dilemma, do I A) Let it go. B) Call the cops and hope they actually do something about it. Or C) Go vigilantly and “reclaim†the bike for God and Country? I choose option C.
I called a couple likeminded Mountain Bikers in the area, one had a truck, the other some bolt cutters. We quickly devised the plan. We would pull up using the truck to cover our action from the patrons at the gas station. The “Away
Team†would jump out with the speed of a Seal Team, hit the cable lock with the bolt cutters and through the “reclaimed†victim in the back of the truck and we would speed off to fame and glory.
The plan was set and within 15 minutes we where organized and ready for action. Now fellow bike lovers what would you do? You tell me and then I will tell the rest of the story if anyone cares to hear it.
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Bit of a tough one there. The problem is that the present owner may not be the thief. So know there is yet another like minded cyclist with that empty feeling. I would rather phone the cops and maybe the owner of the shop. get them down to the scene and then wait for the “owner” of the bike to show up or let the cops to take over.
I think the cops dont give a crap cause they got bigger things to deal with. And, seriously, how many of us own a carbon fiber team edition mountain bike that we would just chain up to a tree next to gas station???
I say bust it loose!
I would have done the same.
I would choose a combination of (B) and (C).
I would get my own cable and lock and secure the bike where it stood. Then call the cops. They are too busy (or lazy) to do bicycle theft investigation, but if you have done all the work for them, they should have no problem closing this deal. It’s little effort and they can collect the credit for ’solving’ a crime.
I agree with mk commuter. That’s a pretty smart idea. Get a heavy duty lock and chain up the bike yourself. Camp out and confront the “owner”.
I would wait outside for the person to come back out and get his bike… have the cops there and store owner waiting! Maybe be able to recover another bike… and uncover who did it – then bust their A**!
I say none of the above. The answer is. Wait for homeboy to come get his ride, and introduce him to the back of your pimp hand. Then ride off on the bike no hands style with a 40 of OE in one hand, and keep your pimp hand free in case the Po Po’s try and wreck your party.
Reaching back like a pimp and slappin someone makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside espcially when it comes to karma. I like mk commuter’s idea but would like to video tape it as it would be funny trying to watch someone trying to unlock a bike they didn’t even know was swapped….hehehe. I like it though…good work!
Lol T-Rav!!!
Yah, tough call. I don’t think the cops would do anything about it. Although I like T-rav’s suggesion – (that would be fun to watch!!)I have to agree with Hilton on this one. The bike owner might not know it was stolen.
My vote is for MK’s idea, lock up the bike and wait for the shop owner to confirm that is the bike actually theirs, then confront the guy to see where he got the bike from.
Can we have the end now…? Please..?
I’d have little faith in the cops response time on that one. It’s sad if it wasn’t the person who stole it but, again, how do you lock a one of a kind(or four of a kind) carbon bike to a tree? Highly doubt they aren’t the ones that stole it.
Reclaim that sucka!!! Man that stuff makes me angry. Retribution is a sonofabitch. Hope you guys cut her loose and set her free!
As a person who’s had a few bikes stolen from me over the years, I say take. Based on the info you gave above it sounds like you were able to identify the stolen property.
I agree with BT, break that baby free!!
Call the authorities.
Take it back.
Double check the serial with either the bike shop owner. Then steal it back when the is a confirmed match. If the serial is wiped off steal away.
Even if the person who owns the bike wasnt the one who stole it they have received stolen property which is a crime in itself unless they paid a hefty price for it it is very easy to tell that the item you purchased is “hot” if I were you i would bring the bike shop owner with his invoice with the SN of the bike and call the cops if they blow you off check the SN call them again and inform them you are reclaiming your stolen property stick around a few mins someone will show up at that point.
Give the info. to the bike owner. Let him decide whether or not to call the police.
Thats awesome. Take the bike from the f***er. leave a nice note.
Thats what I would do.
I’m confused. You called the bike shop owner, told him where he could find his stolen property, and… what? He didn’t care enough to go get the bike himself, or to call the police?
You have no proof of anything. Only a strong suspicion and some circumstantial evidence. The bike doesn’t belong to you. So, justify it any way you want–call it reclaiming it, call it liberating it–the word is ’stealing.’
You’re trying to decide whether to steal it off the street in the hope that whoever currently possesses it isn’t the legal owner.
Hope all you want, Dude. There’s no moral dilemma here. You already did the right thing by notifying the (likely) owner. You can call the cops if that will make you feel better. Anything more is just you being a dick.
Good job. You did what the cops are too lazy to do. some one has to do whats right. And thats almost never going to be any one in power.
Nobody who owns a bike like that is going to ride it to a gas station and chain it up to a tree out of site. Whoever had the bike obviously had no clue what it was worth, so they must not have paid for it. Bar ends straight up? Classic hobo.