Bike thief ARRESTED...
Thread started by
adictpunk04 at 07.17.09 - 8:04 am
So yesterday when I was going home from work my friend and I saw a White male about 27 years old desperately trying to break the chain off of a TREK mountain bike that was chained up at the Westlake McArthur Park station. When he saw us looking at us he tried to play it off by saying that it was his bike and that he had lost his keys. Off course we knew he was lying so we decided to ride around and keep an eye on him. As soon as he lost sight of us he again began trying to break the chain so we called the Sheriff department gave his description, they showed 5 minutes later and took him away. One bike thief spending the night in jail thanks to me. Hehe
reply
Well done!
JB responding to a
comment by HappyLand
07.17.09 - 8:11 am
reply
Good on you! Wish they all were caught in the act...
alicestrong07.17.09 - 8:43 am
reply
The best news all week is that you should be at 3rd and traction tonight at 9pm.
what was he using to break the chain/lock/, etc.?
barleye responding to a
comment by speedybrian2000
07.17.09 - 8:45 am
reply
Fuck that, you should have killed him.
jesus responding to a
comment by Adrian_The_BEAST
07.17.09 - 8:55 am
reply
Wouldn't it be funny if it actually "was" his bike and he had lost his key. lol.
But good job. Had that been the case I'm sure he would have been able to provide proof to the cops it was indeed his bike.
As a community we need to start keeping our eyes open and recognize certain situations and take a proactive step.
Now go and catch that other thief on 8th and Vermont!!
July07.17.09 - 10:06 am
reply
Lucky brake for the owner of that bike. It's up to us to look after each other.
+1 for a positive thread for a change.
rev106 responding to a
comment by July
07.17.09 - 10:08 am
reply
what was the tipping point that made you come to the conclusion of, "oh shit, that dude is trying to steal that bike." ?
was he looking over his shoulder constantly or something?
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by July
07.17.09 - 10:19 am
reply
Good job man. I'm surprised at that response time for such a call.
profoscurity07.17.09 - 10:27 am
reply
nah man, july brought up a good point.
what IF the guy was telling the truth.
im sure it was obvious enough that the guy was trying to steal the bike but when was the point when u realized that he actually was trying to steal the bike.
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by BlAcKnYeLLoWfUji
07.17.09 - 10:30 am
reply
the reason i say this is bc i lost the keys to my lock awhile back and had to come back with a hammer to break it off.
im sure that looked sketchy as hell and im guessing that it didnt look sketchy enough for someone to call the cops on me.
i did however have my cleats on so that may have been the clue like, "oh yeah, guy probably lost his keys."
KiMS107.17.09 - 10:32 am
reply
I am actually considering carrying pictures of me with my bike on my person so if something like this should happen I could easily provide proof that this indeed is my bike.
I really wasn't trying to start up a debate. But, had it been his bike he would have had proof of it, right? In which case they would have just cuffed him, found out the truth, and then let him continue with his cutting of the chain/lock with them in front of him (so no one else would confuse the situation)
All I'm saying is... always report it. You never know. It's a 50-50 chance... and that's good enough for me. I'd want you guys to do the same if it was me on the other end (unless you recognized that it was my bike - and that's not hard to do seeing how I'm one of a very limited few riders who rides a hot pink/fuschia colored bike)
July responding to a
comment by KiMS1
07.17.09 - 10:34 am
reply
yeah, having a pic of you and your bike on you as proof is a good idea just incase you lose ur key or something.
but are there any other ways to have proof other than having that pic?
maybe having it registered?
do they give you some sorta registration card when you do the paperwork?
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by July
07.17.09 - 10:39 am
reply
This is a good question.
My bike was handed down to me from my pops who bought it back in the 90's some time... and he got it at a yard sale... so there is no receipt to prove how we paid or how much we paid for it.
What helps me is my bike is limited in numbers and has its own number (see fig 1):
Fig 1.
(wow, just missed #666 - that would have been awesome!)
July responding to a
comment by KiMS1
07.17.09 - 10:44 am
reply
goddamn work filter is blocking your picture.
wtf, its treating a photo of a bike as if its boobs or a dick or something.
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by July
07.17.09 - 10:46 am
reply
damn, so close to 666 - had that been the case i would have named this beaut THE JULIUS (i know it should be Nero but my name is July so Julius is better) CESAR CHARIOT OF FIRE.
July07.17.09 - 10:49 am
reply
Put your name and phone # / e-mail on an index card and stick that in your seatpost. Then you can show it's your bike if you have to.
JB07.17.09 - 10:49 am
reply
at the police station you fill out a piece of paper with your name, address, phone number, the make and model of your bike, size, etc etc, and when youre done, they give you one of the carbons for your records.
ruinedbyidiots responding to a
comment by KiMS1
07.17.09 - 10:52 am
reply
oh yeah, thatd be sick.
on a different note,
what if you were to do that, roll the card, drop it into the frame via seat tube.
lets say some fucker steals your bike and you come across it.
youre gonna claim its your stolen bike and the guy is going to deny it right?
have him take teh seat post out and out drops teh card with all ur info on it.
i feel that when people steal bikes, they might switch out wheels and handle bars and maybe even the seat to make it look as far from original as possible but i doubt theyd put in the effort to switch out seat posts and crank sets.
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by JB
07.17.09 - 10:53 am
reply
*crankset/bottom bracket
KiMS107.17.09 - 10:54 am
reply
i saw a guy on a BMX riding a really nice mountainbike down Venice Blvd at night a few weeks back. just then the cops pulled up and grabbed him. bike theft averted.
tortuga_veloce07.17.09 - 11:15 am
reply
u saw a guy on a bmx bike riding a mountain bike?
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by tortuga_veloce
07.17.09 - 11:18 am
reply
i was about to ask the same thing.
so which was he riding... the bmx or the mountain bike?
July responding to a
comment by KiMS1
07.17.09 - 11:20 am
reply
mebbe... it was a bmx mountain bike?
July07.17.09 - 11:21 am
reply
or did u mean the cops saw the guy riding a bmx bike, and then saw him later riding a high end mountain bike?
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by tortuga_veloce
07.17.09 - 11:26 am
reply
he was riding a bmx and had his hand on the mountainbike.
tortuga_veloce responding to a
comment by KiMS1
07.17.09 - 12:46 pm
reply
wasn't there just a big deal about being forced to get a bike license, and how useless a license actually is? and didn't cyclists "win" that war?
I think cops would be looking at your body language and how you come across when they question you about what you're up to.
carrying a picture of you and your ride sounds like the best way out to me. I'm not going to be tearing my bike apart looking for some piece of paper I stuffed down somewhere once upon a time.
dave07.17.09 - 12:53 pm
reply
The card you drop down the seatube would be soaking wet in a month and completely obscured by rust a few months later. Make sure its laminated or something.
stillline07.17.09 - 1:43 pm
reply
get those bike stealing fucks!!!!
TORE_81807.17.09 - 1:48 pm
reply
I've got these lettering stamps at my stepdads place, he uses these on all of his tools and model-train things.
I already stamped some vitals into the bottom bracket area, so I'm covered as far as that goes.
bentstrider responding to a
comment by stillline
07.17.09 - 1:48 pm
reply
Me and my friend had are bikes looked up at moca at that music car event. and his key broke off in the lock. we came back later with a sawzaw. people just walked by us looking at us and not one person said anything.
buckchin responding to a
comment by stillline
07.17.09 - 1:53 pm
reply
The card you drop down the seatube would be soaking wet in a month and completely obscured by rust a few months later. Make sure its laminated or something.
Or put it inside a plastic baggie.
I've seen Some people tie dental floss to it as well, and leave a bit outside the seat tube, so it can be easily pulled out later.
sparkypinball responding to a
comment by stillline
07.17.09 - 1:56 pm
reply
Last summer, I locked up my bike outside a burger joint on Western north of Wilshire with a cheap ass combination cable lock I bought at Target.
When I came out the POS combination would not work!
I walked to a fire station to borrow some bolt cutters, but they would not help me because I had no proof the bike was mine.
I bought a $5 hack saw at a hardware store and cut the cable in like 3 minutes of sawing.
While I was cutting, the burger manager came out to see what the heck I was doing. I assured him the bike was mine, and I thanked him profusly for coming out and making sure I wasn't stealling someones bike.
Creative Thing responding to a
comment by buckchin
07.17.09 - 2:57 pm
reply
I spent a night in jail thanks to you guys.....It was my mothers boyfriends sisiters friends bike and I was just borrowing it to get a pack of cigs and I forgot to bring my key so I just figured i would cut the lock and get home before my mother found out I stole some money out of her purse for the cigs,
Ya know how it is
Larardo07.17.09 - 3:20 pm
reply
Hell yeah, score one for the good guys...
Debut21307.17.09 - 4:06 pm
reply
yeah, when i registered my bike, the cops told me to take a dremel and carve my drivers license number in the bb shell.
ruinedbyidiots responding to a
comment by bentstrider
07.17.09 - 4:10 pm
reply
"The card you drop down the seatube would be soaking wet in a month and completely obscured by rust a few months later. Make sure its laminated or something. "
Tape it in the SEATPOST tube itself, not the seat-tube, otherwise you'll be fishing for days.
JB07.17.09 - 6:05 pm
reply
Well I right away knew he was stealing the bike since he was crouched between the bike and the post it was chained to and he kept looking over his shoulders.
adictpunk04 responding to a
comment by KiMS1
07.17.09 - 6:11 pm
reply
when I was about 13 I had this awesome sears 12 speed bike. ooooh man I thought it was the BEST. my buddy had a Peugeot 18 speed. we rode all the way out to Toys R Us in Burbank one day and stupidly left our bike leaned against the wall unlocked... needless to say when we came back out, our bikes were gone.... lol. well my pops picked us up and we drove around for an hour or so and found the bikes sitting outside 711 and a couple assholes inside playing video games were the culprits. I dont know. just felt like sharing that. :)
Roadblock07.17.09 - 7:25 pm
reply
BIG UP. Good lookin out rida!
eric07.17.09 - 9:44 pm
reply
Roadblock, if it weren't for the fact that it happened in Burbank, I'd be thinking that I must have known you as a kid based on that story. I don't remember it being Toys R Us, but I and a friend had our bikes stolen outside a store and then found it at a 7-11 with his dad, later. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up when I read your comment, but my experience definitely happened in Long Beach.
ideasculptor responding to a
comment by Roadblock
07.17.09 - 10:12 pm
reply
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ __o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <_
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (x)/ (x)
TIMESARECHANGING responding to a
comment by ideasculptor
08.19.09 - 2:59 pm
reply
-->
Ridazz Roulette!
