Stolen Bike Registry - do this when your bike gets stolen

"With all the stolen bike posts lately (and no one thinking "I wonder if there's something under Useful Links for this."), I think it's well past time to make a sticky about the Stolen Bike Registry"

- Tank-Ridin' Ryan

Well said Ryan.

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/

Done and done.

And sticky too.

Cheers - Lee Diamond

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ruby Red on March 6, 2011 at 10:36pm

My friend Sara and I were driving North on Ashland tonight, just north of Cortez and she said, "Hey, that guy just stole that tire! What should we do?"

"Follow him!" I said. So we did a u-turn, followed him on his bicycle (with said stolen tire) south on Ashland, past two empty police cars (They were undoubtedly in El Marisco, having dinner), and then east on Augusta and up and down many side streets and alley-ways. We tried to take his picture several times while I called the 911, described the theft, the location and the rider. He was an older latino guy on a shitty mountain bike, with a big dark coat and a black beanie. He had several plastic bags on his handlebars and this tire he had just snagged. Eventually, after about five or six blocks, he must have gotten sick of us following him, so he tossed the tire into someone's front fence area. We pulled over; I retrieved the tire and we went back to the bike, thinking we were going to heroically return it to its rightful owner.

When we got back to the bike that was parked on Ashland, a Specialized mountain bike with a rusty chain, a missing seat and an obviously deflated rear tire, it was obvious that it was an abandoned bike. So, now I have this stolen front tire and no one to return it to. What's the protocol on abandoned bikes? Are they fair game? Do we just ignore them? What the heck do I do with this tire?

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 6, 2011 at 10:48pm

Thanks for your concern and community-mindedness.

Find a good use for the wheel.

The guy you're describing sounds like someone named "Santiago" who lives under the Kennedy near Armitage and is responsible for many similar thefts of parts around that area.

He's an annoyance but probably not responsible for a significant percentage of 'real' bike theft.

Very unlikely anything about his behavior is going to change.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Kamp on March 10, 2011 at 2:17pm

STOLEN (not the brand) Scattante X-560

(from the craigslist)

Wasn't gonna bother with this, but now that I'm cruising craigslist every day, just noticed another Andersonville broken heart (http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/2256967090.html - so sorry, girl) I'll do my civic duty. Mine got angle-ground Friday morning (3/4) just south of Foster and Clark. Description I got was 5'8", khaki hoodie, mocha skin tone, battery-powered grinder.

Anyway, it had the nice Honjo hammered fenders, mismatched dark-red Crank Bros. Candy pedals (one long spindle, one short), mismatched 105 STI brifters (left lever is black, right is metal-tone), brand-new (that very morning!) brake pads (red on rear, black in front), a really old thin-line Brooks seat, Continental Gatorskin tires (not the knobbies shown below.) Looks new from a distance, very well-used up close. Don't have any pix - base model is below.

Feel free to kill whoever tries to sell it to you. Either way, lemme know.

Thanks to all readers - Jim

http://images.craigslist.org/3n93md3o45Z25S55R0b394a670bf2fb3b1f5a.jpg

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on March 10, 2011 at 8:39pm

Is that free-murder transferable?

Jim Kamp said:

STOLEN (not the brand) Scattante X-560

(from the craigslist)

Wasn't gonna bother with this, but now that I'm cruising craigslist every day, just noticed another Andersonville broken heart (http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/2256967090.html - so sorry, girl) I'll do my civic duty. Mine got angle-ground Friday morning (3/4) just south of Foster and Clark. Description I got was 5'8", khaki hoodie, mocha skin tone, battery-powered grinder.

Anyway, it had the nice Honjo hammered fenders, mismatched dark-red Crank Bros. Candy pedals (one long spindle, one short), mismatched 105 STI brifters (left lever is black, right is metal-tone), brand-new (that very morning!) brake pads (red on rear, black in front), a really old thin-line Brooks seat, Continental Gatorskin tires (not the knobbies shown below.) Looks new from a distance, very well-used up close. Don't have any pix - base model is below.

Feel free to kill whoever tries to sell it to you. Either way, lemme know.

Thanks to all readers - Jim

http://images.craigslist.org/3n93md3o45Z25S55R0b394a670bf2fb3b1f5a.jpg

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 14, 2011 at 9:57pm

Hey folks,

I'm meeting with Paul S the tech brain behind the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry this Sunday and we're going to take a look at our backlog of feedback/requests and see about prioritizing/moving forward. Sorry this is kind of overdue but Paul's got a new family and is professionally in extreme demand, being of the rare breed that seems to have an understanding of both people and machines (all the good ones are taken etc.).

Please take a look at the top discussion in the Bike Theft group:

http://www.thechainlink.org/group/chainlinkbikethefttaskforce

and feel free to add anything if you've used the registry before.

Thanks!

Howard K

http://stolenbike.org

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Permalink Reply by Ian Knox on March 15, 2011 at 9:59am

My friend Kat had her ride stolen yesterday and I promised her I'd try to get the word out. Police reports have been filled out, now it's time to see if she can get lucky.

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/190881

It's a Trek 2000 custom powder coated bright-ass-teal so it's pretty easy to ID.

Contact her if you spot it (info is in the link above.)

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Permalink Reply by Jim Freeman on March 22, 2011 at 5:14pm

I built this bike. It was an awesome build too... Handbuilt wheels, custom paint. What a shame. So sorry to see it's been stolen.

On another note... Does anyone know if the stolen bike registry has ever actually recovered bikes? I can see that at the very least it is a tremendous resource for a "how to" avoid having your bike stolen as we can learn from others where and how bikes are being stolen, but has it ever actually helped recover bikes?

Ian Knox said:

My friend Kat had her ride stolen yesterday and I promised her I'd try to get the word out. Police reports have been filled out, now it's time to see if she can get lucky.

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/190881

It's a Trek 2000 custom powder coated bright-ass-teal so it's pretty easy to ID.

Contact her if you spot it (info is in the link above.)

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 22, 2011 at 5:22pm

Jim,

Are referring specifically to the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry?

Just search under the term "recovered" and you'll see more than a few such stories.

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/search/node/recovered

Jim said:

I built this bike. It was an awesome build too... Handbuilt wheels, custom paint. What a shame. So sorry to see it's been stolen.

On another note... Does anyone know if the stolen bike registry has ever actually recovered bikes? I can see that at the very least it is a tremendous resource for a "how to" avoid having your bike stolen as we can learn from others where and how bikes are being stolen, but has it ever actually helped recover bikes?

Ian Knox said:

My friend Kat had her ride stolen yesterday and I promised her I'd try to get the word out. Police reports have been filled out, now it's time to see if she can get lucky.

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/190881

It's a Trek 2000 custom powder coated bright-ass-teal so it's pretty easy to ID.

Contact her if you spot it (info is in the link above.)

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Permalink Reply by Julia Thiel on March 23, 2011 at 12:32pm

My 2010 black-and-white Cannondale Synapse was stolen Friday from the West Loop. It has a rack on the back, or at least it did when it was taken, and locking skewers on the wheels. The image below is a stock image, but it's exactly what my bike looks like minus the rack and pedals.

If anyone sees it, I'd really appreciate a call--my cell phone number is 224-456-7305. I still have the receipt and warranty card, so I can easily prove it's mine. There's more information at the Stolen Bike Registry page for it: http://chicago.stolenbike.org/node/190888

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Permalink Reply by Erin Mays on March 28, 2011 at 8:43am

Hey everyone, my bike was stolen last Monday from the west loop also -- a 2010 Raleigh Grand Sport with blue bar tape on compact bars that I swapped out. Unfortunately, my cat (pictured) was not around to guard it.

The police report is HT 213686 if you come across it.