I Chased A Bike Thief Down!
Thread started by
extendedstudy at 04.11.09 - 3:48 pm
So this happened yesterday in South Downtown LA, outside the Office Depot on Figueroa, by Washington.
I walked out of the store and saw this guy crouched down by my bike, as I approached him I saw that he clipped my shitty lock and was putting his tools back in his duffel bag. I startled the guy by yelling at him, so he jumped on my bike and started to ride away. He was a heavyset guy and wasn't moving that quickly, so I began chasing him down figueroa on foot, yelling at him to get the f*** off my bike. He turned down an industrial street where there were a bunch of construction workers, and they figured out by my yelling and the shadiness of this guy what was going on, so they to began chasing him and trying to block him. He finally built up some speed and turned a corner, and by this point everyone gave up chasing him. Just as I felt defeated, one of the construction workers whipped around the corner in his pickup truck and told me to jump in. We found the guy pretty quickly, he was heading south on Grand street. The thief noticed we were following him, so he did a u-turn on the sidewalk and went the opposite direction. Then the construction driver did something unexpected: He threw his truck in reverse, and then drove a block going in reverse on a one way street! (This is a pretty desolate part of the city, we weren't endangering anyone except ourselves), The thief darted through an alleyway that led to Adams street, and as we turned the corner he threw the bike down and dug his hand into his duffel bag as if he were reaching for a weapon. He screamed at us to not follow him anymore, and then he ran away on foot.
He was obviously spooked that we had chased him down, and there was a huge possibility that I could have been hurt, but I'm not going to allow thugs to get away with stealing in broad daylight, and it's great that there are people in my neighborhood who feel the same way. Anyway, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster, and I just thought I'd share my story.
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ridazz take back the streets
aksendz04.11.09 - 3:51 pm
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Wow.. that's intense. But good for you for not giving up.. I wonder if you could file a police report for attempted robbery ?
dusky04.11.09 - 3:51 pm
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I was on the phone with 911 when I was in the guys truck, they said they would alert the units in the area to be on the lookout for the guy based on the description I gave and would file it as an attempted theft. It still hasn't appeared on the crime map yet, which makes me wonder if they actually filed it.
extendedstudy04.11.09 - 3:56 pm
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dude I like your style. and the construction worker too. great story.
str8cruzin04.11.09 - 3:58 pm
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beautifully done
Brah
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay :]
pop iggy04.11.09 - 4:02 pm
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It wasn't this guy, was it?
SPOOK04.11.09 - 4:06 pm
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uberness of awesome had. and done.
bondink04.11.09 - 4:09 pm
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After reading this im thinking of spending the $10 I found today on a box of donuts for the construction workers across the street from my house,they have big bruhh trucks ;)
madmike04.11.09 - 4:33 pm
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and what is the moral of this story?
Cable locks are worthless!
FuzzBeast04.11.09 - 5:15 pm
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I didn't see what he was using, I went back to the scene and this was what was left of the lock, I guess he took the other piece with him.
extendedstudy04.11.09 - 7:14 pm
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those are def not bolt cutters.... maybe some sort of electric saw
theladiesman04.11.09 - 7:28 pm
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This adds a whole new dynamic to the bike thievery. They can cut Kyrptonite.
skd04.11.09 - 7:29 pm
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Holy crap.. that's what was left of the u lock? props to you man for chasing him down.. crazy!
When you walked up to the guy... You said clipped... so you saw like bolt cutters.. handles? you didn't hear any power tool or grinding of some sort? Crazy to see the pic of your ulock.
Man... things could've went bad if he had something in that bag. Thank god he didn't have shiet... and left.
Major props!!
digablesoul04.11.09 - 7:43 pm
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Seriously, if krytonite aren't safe,,, what are?
rayrayray04.11.09 - 7:44 pm
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I think that's what I saw, it all happened crazy fast. But I didn't hear any powertools and there weren't any lightpoles or anything else around for the guy to plug into, and I doubt a cordless sawsaw would have enough power.
Attached is a detail of the cut. My roommate theorizes bolt cutters, as one side shows the stationary blade digging in while the other one cut through.
extendedstudy04.11.09 - 7:51 pm
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Bringing the bike with you into the business or where ever you are going.
sexy04.11.09 - 7:51 pm
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okay yeah those were bolt cutters.. i didnt see the angles on the cut on the first picture, at first it looked like a smooth cut from afar
theladiesman04.11.09 - 7:53 pm
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thinner u-locks can be cut, long bolt cutters (like those advertised in the link that user1 posted from craigslist) can go through a thin one with some effort. Kryptonite has a rating on their locks, pretty much anything below an evolution or higher (like 9 or up) will be ok, but again, all locks do is slow down thieves. You may be able to send the remains to Kryptonite for a new lock.
FuzzBeast04.11.09 - 7:59 pm
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You said duffel bag? Probably had some long bolt cutters in there. Portable power tools... w/ the battery technology they've got now... scary. Two ulocks. Might as well deter them... let them look elsewhere.
digablesoul04.11.09 - 8:01 pm
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Wow crazzy, glad you got your shit back.
mattspeed04.13.09 - 10:03 am
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i carry a batton.. this mofo would hit the floor before he got a single pedal stroke on my bike... fuck that shit
Debut21304.13.09 - 10:24 am
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or atleast carry pepper spray. imagine this cunt trying to pedal with a face full of mase... u would have saved ur self the jog down the street
Debut21304.13.09 - 10:26 am
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word on the street is that at least one of the bike thieves around the USC area is packing. glad you got your bike back.
tfunk40804.13.09 - 10:57 am
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that Construction worker earned a six pack
dannyzuko04.13.09 - 11:36 am
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if you check out the Kryptonite website, that particular U-Lock is meant for "low crime" areas and the shackle is 12 mm thick...
their higher crime locks go all the way to 18 mm in thickness...
adrian04.13.09 - 12:35 pm
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people are starting to use car jacks to break them..
emzeelok04.13.09 - 12:55 pm
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that's nothing new, unfortunately...
that's why they made the new smaller locks, so you can get that kind of leverage...or jack in that space...
adrian04.13.09 - 12:57 pm
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Good prevails over evil! Great job persisting on your hunt, that's amazing!!
kryxtanicole04.13.09 - 9:05 pm
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wow that's amazing! The story and that your Kryptonite lock got cut. I bet the thief used some kind of hydraulic cutter, like a hydraulic press.
User104.14.09 - 11:13 am
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dang! nice one. i too chased down a potential thief that had been riding away on my bike.
definitely gave me a raging boner to feel empowered like that.
danger's my middle name.
Aqueous Atom04.14.09 - 2:21 pm
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