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My bike was stolen (2017)

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Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#61

Post by bombcar »

techsupporter wrote: post #22
progre wrote: post #12

I like the writing style. Compact sentences. Reminds me of Erlend Loe's first few books.

Same here. I must be jaded because every time I click to read a story like this, I am fully expecting: "Someone stole my bike. Here's how I got it back. It was an unexpectedly warm day in the hills of Colorado, back in October of 1967. My father--or, rather the person who would eventually become my father, because he didn't yet know it--relaxed on the porch after finally getting to those weeds his mother had been pes…

You must frequent the same recipe sites I do.

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#62

Post by mrexroad »

Karsteski wrote: post #2

I could not even imagine the police getting off their butts to do anything about a stolen bike, much less going along with a regular person's investigation. Great work, I wish more police were willing to actually do things when members of the public take the initiative

Fwiw, the police helped me successfully recover my kid’s stolen bike and arrested the thief/seller as soon as I ID’d our bike at the “meet-up.”

It’s easy to over generalize.

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#64

Post by dahart »

Last year I had a very similar story, though in my case the police were not only helpful, at first they encouraged me to make first contact and initiate the sting! This was primarily due to them being short staffed the night I found my bike listed online, but I was pretty sure the police were going to advise that I stay clear of the thief, which is what most of my clear-headed friends said.

Due to a storm I stalled a little, and it was enough that the police went and did the sting without me. They called me to come get it where it went down, and there was a whole team there looking very proud. They said less than 1% of cases bikes get recovered because nobody registers their bikes, and not many people call them. There’s a whole warehouse full of unclaimed bikes.

The thief was a serial offender, but also homeless which I feel bad about. He had to go to court and I got several letters requesting I share my story of the financial damage the theft caused me, but since I got the bike back there wasn’t any to speak of.

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#65

Post by 908B64B197 »

bowsamic wrote: post #3
Karsteski wrote: post #2

I could not even imagine the police getting off their butts to do anything about a stolen bike, much less going along with a regular person's investigation. Great work, I wish more police were willing to actually do things when members of the public take the initiative

Yeah here in Germany you would be laughed out of the police station or the police would get aggressive with you and accuse you of committing a crime

Accusing the victims or just flat-out covering crime seems to be a common practice over there, at least for things much worse than property crimes [0] [1] [2].

[0] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/12...

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cologne-poli...

[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35231046

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#66

Post by casey2 »

BashiBazouk wrote: post #38

A long time ago I had a bicycle stolen. I had registered the bike with the city as "required" had filled out a police report with license number and serial number. Found the bike locked up in town on a Friday night. Flagged down a police officer and told him about the bicycle theft, police report and had a copy of the paperwork with all the relevant info. Cops reply: I can't get a locksmith out until Monday. Went hom…

Why you wanted the government to live your life for you in the first place is beyond me.

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#67

Post by ProAm »

mrexroad wrote: post #62
Karsteski wrote: post #2

I could not even imagine the police getting off their butts to do anything about a stolen bike, much less going along with a regular person's investigation. Great work, I wish more police were willing to actually do things when members of the public take the initiative

Fwiw, the police helped me successfully recover my kid’s stolen bike and arrested the thief/seller as soon as I ID’d our bike at the “meet-up.” It’s easy to over generalize.

YMMV - I see zero help with home burglaries let alone stolen bikes. Depends on a lot of factors, just sucks you pay taxes for no benefits.

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#68

Post by dopu »

smm11 wrote: post #30

I know of someone who, during the pandemic, noticed a certain homeless encampment that regularly had $8K bikes lying around. Because a homeless person would certainly possess a six-month-old carbon World Cup race bike. The person went to the camp regularly for a while, with a baseball bat, and retrieved bikes. They had 5 in the garage at one point. Doing so was more hassle, though, once they were in possession, than…

What a sad human being they must be.

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#69

Post by dahart »

kraquepype wrote: post #41

Glad this had a happy ending. I'm still torn up about my own bike, stolen in broad daylight. It was my fault - it wasn't locked up. It was an old bonded aluminum frame Trek, it squeaked when you bore down on it but it was upgraded and tweaked just the way I like it. I haven't felt the same about cycling since.

> it squeaked when you bore down on it

My old trek commuter just started doing that. Then I inspected the frame and found some cracks around where the cabling comes out. Went to buy a new bike and the shop said, well at least go check if they’ll warranty it. So I did, my local shop just happened to have the 15 year old original receipt archived. They sent photos to Trek, and Trek warrantied a replacement. And it was a full bike replacement, even though I stripped the old bike. I felt very sheepish about taking a new bike after the very well used bike frame failed (maybe abused? I was touring on it, a lot, not just commuting). I told the shop I felt like I was cheating, and they said “take the bike and don’t even worry, Trek makes it easy and they like doing it for loyalty. Plus, other people have brought back 30 year old bikes, so you’re not even on the list of crazy stories.” Wow. I definitely feel some loyalty to both Trek and this shop after this… I won’t hesitate to buy another Trek from them once I need one.

Re: My bike was stolen (2017)

#70

Post by marcosdumay »

vorpalhex wrote: post #26
chroma wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the police didn't do any detective work, didn't help with the sting operation, and they didn't punish the thief. It seems like it'd be more fruitful to get a few of your friends and solve the problem yourself. It's not like the thief is going to go to the cops.

One of the hallmarks of a justice system is the presence of a neutral judge and a defense attorney. Mob violence is most certainly not just.

What, if you take the GP's comment as true, is very troublesome. But you didn't invalidate the GP in any way.
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