Ammanford - KTM Chicago 2009 stolen today approx 3.20pm

johnsouthwales

KTM Chicago Mountain 2009 model bike was stolen from outside Ammanford Post Office today at approx 3.20pm. Police were contacted and it was recorded on cctv. Opportunist or planned theft. Just a case now of waiting to see if anyone knows the person. Maybe the town centre cctv will pick up and see which way the suspect went.
Vistors to the town don't really know which way to go unless they are from the area, or someone who has been here before and gets to know the town.

19 inch frame, schwalbe comp x tyres, kateem handlebar, shimano gears etc as in the original.

johnsouthwales

what i'm afraid of here is, if they do catch the person who stole it (it may well be linked to other thefts, you never know), is what if it is damaged or something.
Would i be stuck in a situation where i have to prove that a mark or whatever wasn't there before he took it? what if it's ridden rough and buggered up the gears. I know most nooks and crannies of my bike or would it be a case of my word against theirs.

at the end of the day, the bike is irreplaceable. you just cannot buy another like for like especially a 2009, unless by some quirk someone somewhere also has one for sale as they seem to be rare and the police are never interested in that kind of thing. just cold hard cash value is all they want to know.
Technically there could be one in a box somewhere floating about in the world in some warehouse, or some tiny bike shop in south africa or wherever.

I use my bike to get around because of a medical problem, and now some male has taken it, i can't get to the town which is only 15 mins walk, the reason i got the bike in the first place is to alleviate the medical problem.. it was a life saver. and without it now, i am stuffed big time. i can't walk without suffering uncomfort and pain, unless i grit my teeth and bare it.

I even asked the police if they manage to catch the person, would there be an additional charge of hate crime or something, or crime against disability. The police asked me if the thief knew i had a medical problem? I said how would i know? It seems by what they told me is that a person cannot be charged with hate crime unless the person knows that the other person has a disability and intentionally uses it against the person.

personally i don't like telling people my problem as it is my problem, and embarrassed in sharing personal information. maybe the person who took it had been watching the street and saw me limping when i was pushing the bike on the pedestrianised street or just about anywhere else. From the police point of view i guess is they have to prove they was watching me. And the only way to find that out is by catching and asking, and the likelyhood would be deny it.

having a car stolen is bad enough, some people don't like having it back because they know someone else has been in it and intrusion. I guess it's the same with a motorbike, or a cycle.

johnsouthwales

The police said on saturday they will visit me tomorrow (which was yesterday) and never did. The cctv images are clear and the only person who can access the machine is the post office technician. how long that will take is unknown. It could be today, tomorrow...next week.
They said that they would circulate the pictures. From what i can see, they may circulate the pictures to other police stations and one or two maybe off on leave or sick and they won't see them them at all.

Jeez it would be much quicker to put the image on a police website or police facebook page in case a member of the public recognises him, and facebookers pass on info much more quickly than the police ever would.. probably they wouldn't like that sort of thing just incase it upsets the thief or rile up the public.
It seems a bit harsh but what can you do in exceptional circumstances.

I thought the police were saying a couple of years ago that they are going to be taking bike thefts more seriously.

jambam

I hope you get your bike back. When you do, or if you replace it, get a lock. Lock it every time you leave it, even in your back garden. It's a shame but there are people out there (everywhere) who steal things. If you value something, look after it and don't take other people's honesty for granted.
Like I said, it's a shame but thieves live everywhere, I really hope you get it back. I'm certain that it wasn't a hate crime, you describe the behaviour of a cowardly, opportunist thief. The Police do take theft seriously, but as you can imagine, they are very busy. The more detective work you put in yourself, the better your chances of recovering the bike. Good luck.

johnsouthwales

jam, i wish that on everyone else that they get theirs back too.

i'm going to give an example of the problem in detective work, probably you all know about this anyway. sites such as gumtree don't do anything to reduce crime. they allow vague adverts and this is on their site at the moment.

MOUNTAIN BIKE FOR SALEEE!!!!!!!
£50, London

I AM SELLING MY BIKE AS I GOT A NEW BIKE ITS GOOD CONDITION BRAKES WORK PERFECT BRAND NEW TYRES NEW TUBES WILL DO SWAPSS ARE WELCOME CALL ME ON

Now, if someone has got a new bike and selling their old one, why the hell do they want to do a swaps.
Maybe there is a rational answer but that doesn't make much sense to me but that's a rational opinion.
Of course people are entitled to have a second bike, but that doesn't sound quit right.. why swap when they already have a second bike? maybe my imagination is a bit wild but i wouldn't touch that with a barge pole.

anyway, i sent a message to the number asking what make and size it is, the reply came as not sure on the make, it's my brothers bike and the wheel size is 26

I know bike crime is serious, and from my own opinion, nothing has been done for years. police giving advice such as security markings is basically token gestures.
Lock advice is ok but i have always said locks are not the answer. all a thief has to do is lift it up and carry it.

If you lock the back wheel to the frame, all they have to do is lift the back wheel and walk. lock the front and back, all they have to do is drag it or carry.

Actually, atheft can take place in 2 seconds.. there you are walking on a street pushing your bike, and your mobile phone goes off. you lean the bike against a bench to answer the phone and someone steals it while you are answering your phone.. Yes!! 2 seconds

I remeber back in the early 90s, we were talking about floor bolts as home security, but as it's evident today, people have ceiling bolts and the thieves get around it by hacking off the bracket.
the only way to do a proper floor bolt is to sink it completely and weld the metal onto the bolt itself which is rather tricky as there won't be much space to work on as you need the joins to be flush against the concrete.
threaded floor bolts that are counter sunk but you need to be able to turn the part into the bolt itself whilst fixing, and you need need to have a O or a D fixing that can be fixed into the bolt permanently without being able to undo it.. and the only way i can come up with is by sinking bolts into the concrete itself whilst making a new path. you have to sink the bolt and the fixing into the concrete before it sets, and that means a new path. digging a 2 inch hole to fit a bolt in won't do much as that would come out. a good square meter at least is needed.
But after all that work, at least a frame can't be tampered with easily. the only way to get that out would be with a kango or a grinder.. but if the steel is 16mm at least, they'll have a heck of a job. 10mm or 12mm steel is nothing.
Or oxyacetalene burnt through, but i wouldn't imagine a bike thief going around in a van with a kango or a burner, unless they are targetting and know what the security is..

as for people breaking into sheds that have wall fixings, no opportunist will know exactly what is inside the shedand how it is set up unless they carry a grinder around with them on the off chance but that'll take ages and noisy, hacking off the fixings is their quickest option, grrrr

What have politicians done with bike thefts? zilch.. the answer is simple... when a bike is manufactured, they issue a certificate. the same way as a vin number and chassis number is recorded on a v5.
if they haven't got a v5 while selling a car, you know it's stolen. and that would make it impossible to sell a stolen bike... and if anybody cannot produce a "v5", they get fined... but of course the police and the authorities are only interested in motorised vehicles, they don't want to do it because it'll be too time consuming for them.

even if they had some system of visible numer plate on the bike, all they have to do is fix false numbers. Personally, i believe the only way to combat it is by having a registration system, issue it on a cred card size, and if you haven't got it on you when a police officer stops you, you have to produce it within 5 days.. just the same as a vehicle spot check... but if a thief steals your v5 as well, that'll be a nightmare - but surely it'll be a serious start.

if the police class bikes as toys or possessions, i'd say they are not doing much about it. then again, they can only implement what the government does, and they can't be arsed to do owt about it. they'd rather have people insure them because it's convenient and it means money for the companies

johnsouthwales

i won't be able to replace it anyway for two reasons. one is that i do not have the money.

why should anybody have to pay more money out from their own pocket because someone steals a bike.
A victim always seems to be the loser.

the bike owner loses financiall anyway, and in a roundabout way, governments are happy for this because it keeps the economy going through sales of replacements for the bikes that have been stolen in the first place.

and it seems lousy that someone will get more of a fine for stealing a mobile phone than they will get for stealing a bike.

if someone stole my phone, i wouldn't be able to replace an old handset - yes i still use a nokia 6230i - top phone.
but there are some out there as they were mass produced. million sold uk at the time? id be lucky if i found one in vgc, as most of them would have gone to recycle trade in for upgrade by now... but if a push came to a shove, i may be reluctant to buy a sony experia or something or a lumia. (then again, depending if the police catch the mobile thief or not is another matter) if they don't, the victim has to pay from his or her own pocket again whether it's an old favourite phone or a brand new samsung galaxy.
now, compare that to trying to find a ktm chicago - you can't compare the two situations. i'd be shocked if a million were sold worldwide never mind the uk.

johnsouthwales

there are some perma bolts around for fixings, once they're in, they are in...well techincally the sleeve is, a bolt can always be undone even if you can't get the plug back out. an 'O' ring can be sunk into concrete before it sets, so at least that fixture is 'permanent', and the only way to get that out is by digging up the concrete or burning the ring off

as for shed ceilings, if someone has a concrete roof, it'll be almost impossible to fix a new one in unless re-concreting a roof. other suggestions are if someone bolts the fixing to a wall or a ceiling, weld the nuts or bolts.
The problem with this could be that depends on what the bolts is made of, someone could easily weld too much and burn through or not enough to penetrate to make a decent weld.

so, after all that, if all they have to do is wrench the fitting off a wall or ceiling, i can't come up with any other solution. most wall fittings have only a 2 inch or 3 inch depth. wood sheds
the only other thing we tried to make is by drilling through the wall completely, feed the fitting through on the inside, fix the brackets and bolts on the inside, and weld the remaining end on the outside end to another fitting but this is tricky. then after this, fix a cowling over the exposed bit.. in the end, what we tried is the reverse.. have a flat end fitting on the outside, and drill inwards, feed through the fitting and weld the bolt on the inside.

the easier a fixing for you, the easier it is for them.. you could drill up through a concrete ceiling and put up whatever you want on the inside but the fixings will be exposed somehow on the outside and give room to play with.
having the 'nut end' on the inside would be a better option, and the less space they have, the better. making the removable nut is what it's all about... making it impossible for them to take the fixing nut off.

things we do in our spare time..

then again, if you have a perfect frame that can't be budged, fixing the bike onto the frame fitting. half a dozen 16mm locks would slow them down a bit, but probably spend £200 on six locks.
Besides the other obvious, how did they get into the garage or shed in the first place. i wouldn't have a clue what i can actually do to my shed door. unless the police suggest to fit a roller screen or a cage around the front. not that i kept a bike in there as it's cold and rust the bike up.

then again, if anyone is old enough to remeber the days before roller doors came in, all the shops in city centres looked nice in the evenings...then suddenly most of britain became security conciouss and all the shops and doors have metal grills... then again, in the early 90s i saw someone's house with a grill, and a steel security gate in the porch, i thought to myself what are we becoming?

then again, in the early 90s, i was hearing of stories of people steal their front wheels when they lock the back.
you always saw office staff carrying their front wheel into work with them.. i always thought what a miserable future.

I like people to be free. if you leave your back door open, nothing will be gone when you come back.
park your car without fear of break in.. park your bike outside the butchers and it'll be there when you come out

johnsouthwales

i texted back asking him to ask his brother what make it is....no reply

johnsouthwales

update: this is a bit contradictory. the police officer dealing with the theft in ammanford said that the cctv stills have been sent out to dyfed-powys police, and southwales police which covers swansea-merthyr-chepstow.
last night i rang to mention something and the officer is off for a week.. so much for progress and updates. how can i get an update if the officer is away?
anyway, the sergeant i spoke to last night said the cctv still maybe sent out to other stations. i pointed something out, what if you sent out the stills and somebody is on leave and won't see them at all? and it could well be the person who was off on leave may well know who it is. no reply

i suggested for them to save time and effort, why don't you just put up the photo of the bike thief in the police website, and issue the picture to the press so they can issue an appeal that way? or are they afraid that the public are doing something more than they are? no reply.

the police attempted to discourage me from doing an appeal. they said they are not going to issue cctv images to the media everytime a bike theft takes place. i said i digress from this because just how many cctv images actually capture a bike theft? a lot of newspaper websites publish a photo issued by that police force, what do the police here have to hide? why are they reluctant to publish? then again, i was told by the reporter that southwales police do issue photos to the media but dyfed-powys don't... strange

i was told that ammanford is a relatively crime free area (whatever that is supposed to mean) or are they more concerned about their image, and they don't want to cause a fuss?
A reporter mentioned this morning that if it is crime free then they have more time to investigate, and she was right.

so, which way did the thief go ? there is cctv at the ton square too, which may not have been manned. also there is cctv at the bottom of quay street which was installed around 2005. can't miss it, a solid steel tower. wonder if that ever has been switched on. plus the new cctv at the new bus station or suppodely. obvious the thief had to arrive at the town somehow. maybe used the cashpoint. now that would give a clue who it is....bank account number, a name even. anything at all that could suggest movements prior to the theft and after.

the other policeofficer says they are not local. i thought what do you mean they? how many more are there. i thought it was just the one, but apparently it was said that someone was peering into the postoffice as a lookout. so, if the police cannot be arsed to look at the town square cctv to see which way they went, that gives the inpression overall they have downgraded bike theft.

why? if it was someone local, they know which way to go. so if the police are saying they are not local, how do they know which way to go? if they went straight up to the square, they knew where they were going. if that's the case, i don't think they turned right because i went round the back of the postoffice and emerged back in high st and would have passed me.

i suggested to the police what if it's a guy with a van? and the police say to me no it wasn't a man in a van. well, they are hardly likely to stash a bike in ford focus are they.. so, if they had no van and there were two of them, where would they go.

an email was sent from ktm to me this morning as well, he said that i was the only person to buy a white ktm chicago 19 inch in 2009. and that my bike was more than rare... that sums it up.

as far as i'm concerned, my bike was the only one in wales.

johnsouthwales

the bike doesn't really come into view until after the phone box.

i did an experiment, after passing the shops where i can see the kiosk so the bike was more or less a 120degree angle so if i'm looking dead on and walking past heading somewhere because i'm on the way to wherever i was going, i wouldn't even have noticed anything. but something made him look at the bike. possibly all he would have seen is a white bike.

i see other bikes now and then and from 3 metres i wouldn't pay much attention, and i would not register a brand unless staring at it and registering for a good few seconds. i could be parked in the bike rack at tesco and if there is a bike in the next slot, i still won't look at the name, i'd just see a bike. personally i wouldn't park a bike next to somebody elses and maybe someone wouldn't like me parking next to theirs too.

whether the thief caught it in the corner of the eye after passing the kiosk but still around 3 metres in line away from the mtb. whether he walks straight and has a roving eye looking around now and acted there and then,
what kind of thief is this? impulse? opportunist? or both... scary

so if was going somewhere originally, either is from the town, or knows the town. but it does get a bit confusing when one officer says is local and the other says isn't.

and why haven't the police put the picture up on their website? i don't get this at all. what else has been up to?
sometimes a serial random bike thief is worse than a planned one as they are often anonymous compared to usual suspects and organised ones.

but the question is, what else get up to and involved with. or is there something more sinister.
i wish now it was a local kid who nicked it for a bit of beer money, you can tell. but there is something about this theft i'm uneasy with and i can't work it out. very hard determination to get it.

if i don't get it back, i do hope they catch quick before does any other damage

johnsouthwales

suspects photo



http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/crime ... 341287/14/

johnsouthwales

http://youtu.be/EyTV1eXgJyc

johnsouthwales

i wouldn't have imagined in my worst dreams how much trouble is caused by a theft. different people react in different ways, some forget about it and carry on as normal and use the insurance to pay out. trouble with insurance is a bike theif gets a free bike.

some people do what they can, some report it to the police., most don't bother and we all know the reasons why.
some have the thief captured on cctv, many don't have the luxury of that..

what i find is that the local newspapers couldn't even be bothered to print it. this is what i don't get, why did the police delay the release of the cctv. there was a quad bike theft a few days after at an isolated farm at night a couple of miles away, no cctv and they took up that story.. have a thief on cctv in broad daylight and they do nowt.

could swear they don't want to catch this bike thief, and the only way to find out if he has done anything else is by catching him, and by no doubt even if he has, he would have got shot of

johnsouthwales

sorry everyone, but i've enhanced the suspect's photo a little and now i'm wondering why the police sent an inferior copy. no wonder some people were saying it was quite unreognisable and dark looking.

bowden769

Do you not think you should have locked it up!!!!! Always lock my bike regardless of where i am or going

appy

Do your fingers ache?

OCLV74

Hard luck, but not locking up is just stupid, yes they can walk off, but they can't RIDE off, in which case you can catch up with them and smack them one! I'd have locked it to the telephone box legs.

johnsouthwales

update: some news arrived, i can’t say too much but someone, somewhere has recognised the suspect photo after i posted it up in a lot of sites, police have interviewed a male, bailed for a few weeks. i don’t know which site – or where

Now it has to be concentrated where the bike is and who is storing it, which is going to be a bugga, as if it’s been hidden for all this time by someone else, some people may not even know it’s there. Search your sheds…because it looks like maybe he will get away with it as it’s down to the cps now whether to proceed even when the cctv evidence is overwhelming. Probably if someone is hiding it, they are in more trouble than the person who took it. and if someone does buy it and gets caught, they could get in trouble as well plus they’d lose their money.
Frustrating thing is I’m not allowed to know the general locality of the person, i’m not even allowed to know if the person is in wales or England or anywhere, which would have been nice to know which county so can concentrate more there rather than faffing about spending hours posting in other sites (shakes head)

lillywhite79

Always use a lock

johnsouthwales

cps dropped the case

johnsouthwales

after posting the images over the internet, somebody recognised the suspect and phoned the police. the police arrested a male..

the response from the cps was this....

An officer saw the CCTV soon after the theft and did not recognise the suspect. Following the name of the suspect being given by the telephone caller, the officer then identified the suspect. Because the man on the CCTV was not initially identified by the officer, must cast some doubt on the subsequent identification.

chriswim

even if they had some system of visible numer plate on the bike, all they have to do is fix false numbers. Personally, i believe the only way to combat it is by having a registration system, issue it on a cred card size, and if you haven't got it on you when a police officer stops you, you have to produce it within 5 days.. just the same as a vehicle spot check... but if a thief steals your v5 as well, that'll be a nightmare - but surely it'll be a serious start.

Interesting idea. All those 3 year olds out cycling with their family will be in trouble then. Where do you draw the line? 4 year old's? 5,6,7,8,9,10? What size bike? What if, like vehicles, it is modified for off road only? No law around what you have on your private land. There must be millions upon millions of bikes in this country, personally I own 4, my wife owns one and my kids both have one each. That is 7 just in my garage!

I think you will find that the police have issued some advice regarding bike theft. Instead of the whole country paying higher taxes to try and register bikes, trikes, scooters, roller skates (again where do you draw the line?), they advise people to buy a lock!

I see you have mentioned locks in your rather long commentary of events above...they will just pick up the bike etc? Try locking it to something that can't be moved! A drain pipe, a bench, a street lamp etc etc.

It is much easier for the police and the government to ask people to take responsibility for their own property by locking it up than it is to try and register every single item people own.

Did you know that the police offer free local cycle coding? They also do post-coding for bikes. Generally you just have to speak to them before someone steals your bike and they can help you prevent it.

As for the CPS dropping the case, they are right. They have to consider the chain of evidence, including if the guy arrested actually looked enough like the CCTV image (which was not clear enough in my opinion, I thought it looked like Jason Statham!) for a magistrate to say 100% this person is a thief. The CPS have to consider the cost of running a trial, which is huge, against the public interest. One bike theft is probably not in the public interest to pay for a trial where the guy just claims it is not him and there is nothing you can do to prove otherwise. There are so many excuses he could give that would get him around the wording of the "theft" offence.

Get your bikes coded people, talk to your local police they are usually pretty helpful, make sure they are covered on the insurance so you can get it replaced, most of all lock it up so that you don't end up expecting other people to try and solve a problem you could have prevented.
:roll: