On Jan 2, 5:13 pm,
[email protected] wrote:
> On Jan 2, 4:08 pm, "Squat'n Dive" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
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>
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> > On Jan 2, 2:54 am, Paul Cassel <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
>
> > > Squat'n Dive wrote:
> > > > my allez sport had involuntarily left my garage last night.
> > > > lesson learned: write down a serial number and keep it in triplicate
> > > > in different spaces
> > > > for a subsequent police report about unintentional bum supply.
>
> > > Why? So the police can activate CSI which will scour the nation using
>
> > because random **** turns up during routine police stops.
> > and, say, if they apprehend a bum for trespassing or whatever
> > and the s/n on his bike matches the one in their db of stolen property
> > then here you have it. i do not expect them actively searching for
> > my bike.
>
> > > their amazing powers of detection and get your Specialized bike back?
>
> > > Be SURE to tell the police the s/n so they can get a good laugh.
>
> > they asked for the s/n. i did not come up with this on my own.
>
> sorry pal, but I found my stolen bike that was previously reported,
> being held by a small gang of youths- I called and had police attend
> and when they did I was the only claimant to the bike- the cops took
> the bike to the station and I had to go there with my id and recepts
> for the bloody thing and PROVE that I owned the bike; some 4 hours
> later they let me have it. the cops are to be peed on for all I care.
> we'll be better off if they just let us carry guns and deal with
> people accordingly.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I've found two bikes that had been stolen from me here in NYC.
The first was an '88 Specialized Stumpjumper. Great bike. I was
walking up 1st aveune towards the L train when I found it locked to a
pole in front of a Chinese takeout/delivery joint. It was taped up and
a couple parts were replaced, but I have no doubt that it the ride
that had disappeared maybe 8 months before. I was with three friends
who doubted the veracity of my find, but they weren't cyclists and
weren't being very patient. It being 1999 or so, I didn't have any
paperwork for the bike. I started gently asking the delivery guys
about the bike, "Hey, that's a nice bike. Who's is it?", but they saw
right through me. I walked into the takeout joint and asked the owners
but they played dumb. Then I started yelling and cursing my brains out
hoping to rattle them but these are people who work behind a wall 2
inch thick plexiglass: they weren't impressed. I threatened to call
the cops, stomped out, said the same to the delivery guys, and walked
to a pay phone down the block to make the call. Of course, even if the
cops came, I had no proof that the bike had been mine. By the time I'd
reached the phone, the delivery guys had unlocked their bikes and took
flight en masse. I ran after them but they were history. I checked
that area a bunch of times afterwards but they probably parted out the
bike and left the frame to rot in some basement.
The second time was on my 30th birthday. I was riding home from work
over the Williamsburg Bridge, feeling good but a little wistful. I was
taking my time, when some speed demon blasts past me on a hot pink
Nishiki International that been stolen 2 years prior. I stomped the
pedals, caught up to him, rode him into the bridge's barriers and,
with murder in my voice, demanded my bike. The bike is big, a 62cm
frame I think, and this guy must have been 5'5. He said that he'd
purchased it on the street for $60. He was Hispanic, probably in his
early 20s, dressed for work in very worn but clean collared shirt and
pants, and looked really crestfallen. He wore black shoes on the SPD
pedals. I believed that he hadn't been the one who lifted it, but that
just wasn't my problem. I wasn't leaving the bridge without my bikes,
and we were going to do this one way or the other. I started talking
about cops again, even though once again I had no papers on this bike.
At the end, I gave him $60, walking two bikes down the ramp into
Brooklyn. I got home and looked the bike over. It was a bit out of
tune, but it was spotless, far cleaner than the grimefest I rode. The
frame was waxed, the spokes shone, and evidently he even waxed the
rims. Honestly, I felt pretty bad for him. He was flying over the
bridge, obviously feeling the buzz on one of the first really warm
days of the year, and I plucked it out from under him. OTOH, he got to
ride the bike for free for two years, and I've put enough miles on the
bike since to do him justice.
I had ANOTHER bike ripped off at Union Square one night. I found a
pair of bicycle cops and asked them to write up a report. They both
said that they had forgotten their pads. I just wasn't in a state of
mind to ask for badge numbers and all of that. This was also during
the peak of Giuliani's NY "Quality of Life" campaign, which felt like
martial law at the time (and almost got him run out of office). The
new cops weren't people to talk to. They were basically out to make
arrests and write up summonses, not write reports about bicycles.
Moral of the story: you're right to keep a record of the serial number
and report it to the cops in case you come across the bike again at
some juncture. No cop wants to get embroiled in a he said she said.
Removing the fork and writing your name and contact info on the
steerer tube is a good idea as well. Even then, it's a pain in the
ass.
/s