Bike stolen and recovered... in 2 hours!
ItsButters
Posts: 3
Hi all, as a bunch of cycling enthusiasts, many of you will have fallen victim to the theft of your pride an joy at some stage, so i thought you might enjoy this story.. Also, I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, but aside from enjoying MTB reviews in B&G, I'm new here :P
I'm getting into XC and recently purchased a nice 08 Merida Matts S60 with a few great upgrades. Pretty much my first "decent" bike. I had an average lock for it from my high school days, and figured that would be enough of a theft deterrent in a busy location like university. I was wrong.
One week after buying it, it was gone. Stolen from outside my office at the university within hours of locking it up. No witnesses, no cameras, no trace of evidence (or even lock fragments) and worst of all, no insurance. I was despondent.
I called the police, university security etc, then called my dad for a ride home. On the way we took a half-hearted look for my freshly stolen bike.
As we drove through some of the crappier neighborhoods it was literally 15 minutes later that we saw this fat 40-something guy wearing a high-visibility vest riding it along.
I called the cops straight away and we slowly followed him for a while until he realised and looked over at us. I pointed straight at him “You’re fucked now buddy!!” We pulled across the footpath and cut him off. He threw the bike at the car and as we jumped out he briefly went for my dad, reaching into his red gym bag and threatening him. As we backed away, he turned and started pacing down a driveway, then took off through a block of flats and jumped a fence. I left my bike with dad and followed him.
For the next 2 blocks I chased him through people’s properties, jumping fences and pelting him with things like a dog bone, a broken lawn chair, and fruit from the trees in people’s yards. The whole time going “Hey everyone! Come look at the thief! Look at this piece of shit thief!” He was in tears screaming at me “Fu*k off!, i have kids at home! You have your bike back! I’m on parole! I don’t want to go back to prison!” It was glorious.
At one point i straddled a fence he had just jumped, pelted him with a fruit, and as i began to climb over, he turned and lunged back at me. “Come on then c*nt!!” His hand moving into the gym bag as if to grab a weapon. I managed to get behind the fence. Around then, another property owner showed up to help. As we both came down a driveway, the other guy cornered him and told him to "Sit the fu*k down or he’ll smack him". At this point he began to cry, then resorted to begging us to let him go, asked strangers to "help him as we were attacking him", then went back to threatening us once his repertoire of alternate mental states had been exhausted. The police (who I'd been on the phone to the entire time) finally got there over 10 minutes later.
This was one of the single greatest moments of my life. I went from having my awesome new bike stolen with no insurance and no hope of getting it back, to running down, abusing and mentally breaking the man who stole it, then had him arrested, where he will go back to prison (he was on parole after a 3 year stint in prison).
I took this picture as he lay on the ground as the police and dog showed up.
I'm getting into XC and recently purchased a nice 08 Merida Matts S60 with a few great upgrades. Pretty much my first "decent" bike. I had an average lock for it from my high school days, and figured that would be enough of a theft deterrent in a busy location like university. I was wrong.
One week after buying it, it was gone. Stolen from outside my office at the university within hours of locking it up. No witnesses, no cameras, no trace of evidence (or even lock fragments) and worst of all, no insurance. I was despondent.
I called the police, university security etc, then called my dad for a ride home. On the way we took a half-hearted look for my freshly stolen bike.
As we drove through some of the crappier neighborhoods it was literally 15 minutes later that we saw this fat 40-something guy wearing a high-visibility vest riding it along.
I called the cops straight away and we slowly followed him for a while until he realised and looked over at us. I pointed straight at him “You’re fucked now buddy!!” We pulled across the footpath and cut him off. He threw the bike at the car and as we jumped out he briefly went for my dad, reaching into his red gym bag and threatening him. As we backed away, he turned and started pacing down a driveway, then took off through a block of flats and jumped a fence. I left my bike with dad and followed him.
For the next 2 blocks I chased him through people’s properties, jumping fences and pelting him with things like a dog bone, a broken lawn chair, and fruit from the trees in people’s yards. The whole time going “Hey everyone! Come look at the thief! Look at this piece of shit thief!” He was in tears screaming at me “Fu*k off!, i have kids at home! You have your bike back! I’m on parole! I don’t want to go back to prison!” It was glorious.
At one point i straddled a fence he had just jumped, pelted him with a fruit, and as i began to climb over, he turned and lunged back at me. “Come on then c*nt!!” His hand moving into the gym bag as if to grab a weapon. I managed to get behind the fence. Around then, another property owner showed up to help. As we both came down a driveway, the other guy cornered him and told him to "Sit the fu*k down or he’ll smack him". At this point he began to cry, then resorted to begging us to let him go, asked strangers to "help him as we were attacking him", then went back to threatening us once his repertoire of alternate mental states had been exhausted. The police (who I'd been on the phone to the entire time) finally got there over 10 minutes later.
This was one of the single greatest moments of my life. I went from having my awesome new bike stolen with no insurance and no hope of getting it back, to running down, abusing and mentally breaking the man who stole it, then had him arrested, where he will go back to prison (he was on parole after a 3 year stint in prison).
I took this picture as he lay on the ground as the police and dog showed up.
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Comments
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Dude should join the panking site on facebook.This is a block of text that can be added to posts you make. There is a 255 character limit.0
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Yeah... But we all wanna know..........
What was in the gym bag?0 -
I think it was a red herring.
and some bolt cutters.
and a blender
a bathroom towel set
a lifetime supply of whiskers cat food
2 tickets to see Elton John in concert
a microwave oven
and a cuddly toy0 -
Wow what a first post. You've set the bar high now, any other posts about bacons and limes and strings just wont do.
Glad it all ended safely for you.The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
Fantastic result...I can imagine you now Hot Fuzz style jumping the fences screaming thief and pelting him with fruit...
Where was this btw and again what was in the red gym bag0 -
I guess there was a banana in the gym bag.
When being pelted with fruit, a loaded banana makes for a good defense
Lucky he didn't get it out.. he could have inflicted some serious damage in your cornholio area0 -
I was despondent.
No place in here for words like thatHe threw the bike at the car and as we jumped out he briefly went for my dad, reaching into his red gym bag and threatening him
Obviously a large metal phallus with which he "brings the pain"Formally known as Coatbridgeguy0 -
I wanna know how,
Have you got 3 arms?ItsButters wrote:jumped a fence. I left my bike with dad and followed him.
For the next 2 blocks I chased him through people’s properties, jumping fences and pelting him with things like a dog bone, a broken lawn chair, and fruit from the trees in people’s yards.
At one point i straddled a fence he had just jumped, pelted him with a fruit, and as i began to climb over,
The police (who I'd been on the phone to the entire time) finally got there over 10 minutes later.0 -
2 arms...
Here's how he stayed on the phone
Formally known as Coatbridgeguy0 -
I notice he was not wearing an helmet.
Nice one! I'm impressed.0 -
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define fat you skinny mofo
bloke in picture looks positively svelte to me :?0 -
Cat With No Tail wrote:I blame Wiggle
No, it was CRC's credit card payment system and the lack of haribo.0 -
What is it with these hard men thieving scum bursting into tears when they get caught. Many years ago while working in a supermarket I caught a shoplifter who had taken a swing at one of my colleagues, he was in tears pleading me not to hit him while waiting on the cops, I did admittedly have him pinned to the ground with my knee resting (lightly I may add) on his mandable/kneck and his arm in a lock (not fully applied, just enough to stop him going for his pocket which turned out to have a large nasty looking knife)Attention all planets of the Solar Federation - We have assumed control.0
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AWESOME!!
Glad you got your bike back, and made a complete and utter c0ck out of the thief!
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Nice one mate, it's such a relieving feeling to catch the thieving scumbags with your bike, had enough of them stolen in my family to know, as well a few attempted robberies and one successful one against myself (all while I was on the bike) !0
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you got the wrong bloke, I think you attacked the innocent house owner, coz that guy aint fat! seriously though I wish they all ended like that."Youth's a mask, but it don't last
live it long and live it fast."
My dustcap topic:
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/forum/view ... &highlight0 -
Ok ok, how does "portly" sound? He was definitely over weight. I'd say >110 kg anyway. No offense to anyone intended :P
We never saw what was in the gym bag. I have to assume it was bolt cutters at least, but the fact he never pulled anything out was either a smart move on his part, as he knew i was talking to police the whole time and would have mentioned it, or, he actually didn't have anything real to threaten me with. So it was a red herring as someone said.
One of the funny things was that he had already put a new lock on my bike, to give the illusion it belonged to him. Combined with the high vis vest, he was a pretty sneaky bastard.
He was charged with 'theft of a bicycle', 'threatening behavior', and 'threatening verbal behavior". He has been up for a bail hearing, which was promptly denied, plead guilty and now awaits sentencing. He's screwed in other words.
Also, someone asked, I'm from NZ
Cheers for the comments, would love to read about similar experiences
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Kia ora.I don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
London Calling on Facebook
Parktools0 -
ItsButters wrote:Ok ok, how does "portly" sound? He was definitely over weight. I'd say >110 kg anyway. No offense to anyone intended :P
ok forgiven this time
but we are watching you
thinking
of ways
to cook you :twisted:0 -
im >110 kg and i am not portly,
im big boned, or rotund :P0 -
kaiser83 wrote:im >110 kg and i am not portly,
im big boned, or rotund :P
I'd have said curvy :shock:0 -
voluptuous.
Snot green Canyon Nerve AM 8.0x0 -
balls dont listen to them mate its just muscle you havent developed yet0
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OK then, have it your way.kaiser83 wrote:im >110 kg and i am not portly,
im big boned, or round :P"Youth's a mask, but it don't last
live it long and live it fast."
My dustcap topic:
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/forum/view ... &highlight0
