Post by jonathan on May 25, 2012 3:14:24 GMT 7
Not Nepenthes, I know, but a nice little story.
This last weekend I got my bike fixed up in preparation of riding it to work nearby. After getting nice new puncture resistant wheels and a seat ($170), I drove it home and locked it up with my wife's bike outside our apartment. The next day, they were still there in the morning. later in the evening when my wife got back from work, we were planning on going for a nice long bike ride... only problem is the bikes were missing.
Based on neighbors who had seen the bikes, they were there at least since 1PM (Monday now). That means they were stolen in broad daylight from an apartment complex with a lot of nosy people who like to watch whats going on outside.
At that point, my wife and I were fairly upset. We filed a police report but knew nothing would happen if we didn't do something ourselves. We are several blocks away from a fairly sketchy part of town (gentrification) and had a pretty good idea where they ended up. We drove, then walked around that evening (making sure we had nothing valuable) looking for possibilities. We found one individual who bought stolen bikes seemed to know where our bikes were. We gave him our contact info and let him know we were offering a $100 reward for the return of our bikes. Haven't heard back from him yet.
That evening, we had no luck, bu we tried again the following day (Tuesday). As we walked around, I was beginning to grow more and more upset after noticing that in the sketchy neighborhood, nobody secured their bikes in any way. They were lying on sidewalks, leaned on houses, in driveways - none with any sign of a lock. Apparently a lock is the signal that a bike should be stolen
As we were getting ready to head back home, a particularly sketchy looking guy drove his bike onto a driveway and parked it by the sidewalk and went into the duplex there. We couldn't believe it! It was my bike - recognizable because it was pretty old except for the new wheels and seat. Shock and anger overtook sense at that point and my wife walked down around the corner and I walked back, turned the bike around and started driving it back home.
If I had a few more seconds, things would have gone a lot more smoothly, but as soon as I started biking the thief ran out of the duplex and chased my down and knocked me off my bike. At that point my wife came back and started running at the thief wanting to know where her bike was and generally scaring the crap out of him. As this was going on, I called the police. Now keep in mind that my wife and I are super pale, and we were in the middle of a sketchy neighborhood, stripped of any glimmer fear by our outrage and anger. Ultimately with half the neighborhood now spectating, the thief ran off. After about 10 min, the police arrived and escorted my wife around the property to see if her bike was around. Sadly, it wasn't but they found lots of stolen bikes out back - one that had even had the frame cut to remove the lock.
As we were telling the officer what had happened, his backup arrived, and we described the thief to him. Shortly after we heard they were chasing him down after he tried to run away from them. They ultimately caught him and we confirmed his identity. Bike theft is very difficult to prove, but assault isn't. From his grabbing me and tackling me off the bike, I received scratches on my neck, some big bruises, and cuts on my leg.
At this point, we are probably known in that neighborhood, so now we drive around looking for my wife's bike. One down and one to go!
This last weekend I got my bike fixed up in preparation of riding it to work nearby. After getting nice new puncture resistant wheels and a seat ($170), I drove it home and locked it up with my wife's bike outside our apartment. The next day, they were still there in the morning. later in the evening when my wife got back from work, we were planning on going for a nice long bike ride... only problem is the bikes were missing.
Based on neighbors who had seen the bikes, they were there at least since 1PM (Monday now). That means they were stolen in broad daylight from an apartment complex with a lot of nosy people who like to watch whats going on outside.
At that point, my wife and I were fairly upset. We filed a police report but knew nothing would happen if we didn't do something ourselves. We are several blocks away from a fairly sketchy part of town (gentrification) and had a pretty good idea where they ended up. We drove, then walked around that evening (making sure we had nothing valuable) looking for possibilities. We found one individual who bought stolen bikes seemed to know where our bikes were. We gave him our contact info and let him know we were offering a $100 reward for the return of our bikes. Haven't heard back from him yet.
That evening, we had no luck, bu we tried again the following day (Tuesday). As we walked around, I was beginning to grow more and more upset after noticing that in the sketchy neighborhood, nobody secured their bikes in any way. They were lying on sidewalks, leaned on houses, in driveways - none with any sign of a lock. Apparently a lock is the signal that a bike should be stolen
As we were getting ready to head back home, a particularly sketchy looking guy drove his bike onto a driveway and parked it by the sidewalk and went into the duplex there. We couldn't believe it! It was my bike - recognizable because it was pretty old except for the new wheels and seat. Shock and anger overtook sense at that point and my wife walked down around the corner and I walked back, turned the bike around and started driving it back home.
If I had a few more seconds, things would have gone a lot more smoothly, but as soon as I started biking the thief ran out of the duplex and chased my down and knocked me off my bike. At that point my wife came back and started running at the thief wanting to know where her bike was and generally scaring the crap out of him. As this was going on, I called the police. Now keep in mind that my wife and I are super pale, and we were in the middle of a sketchy neighborhood, stripped of any glimmer fear by our outrage and anger. Ultimately with half the neighborhood now spectating, the thief ran off. After about 10 min, the police arrived and escorted my wife around the property to see if her bike was around. Sadly, it wasn't but they found lots of stolen bikes out back - one that had even had the frame cut to remove the lock.
As we were telling the officer what had happened, his backup arrived, and we described the thief to him. Shortly after we heard they were chasing him down after he tried to run away from them. They ultimately caught him and we confirmed his identity. Bike theft is very difficult to prove, but assault isn't. From his grabbing me and tackling me off the bike, I received scratches on my neck, some big bruises, and cuts on my leg.
At this point, we are probably known in that neighborhood, so now we drive around looking for my wife's bike. One down and one to go!
