The Chainlink

Bike Stolen in Irving Park...Please help me find my bike.

Hi, my bike was stolen Monday, April 9th between 5-7am from my apartment. Wondering if maybe you fellow bikers can keep an eye out for me?

It's a Bianchi, Nirone, size 46, women's bike, mostly white with Teel accents, great condition. At the time it was stolen it had a white bike light on the top of the bike and taillights.

I have the serial number and receipt. I'm searching around the city, but some extra eyes would help too!! Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 3, 2013 at 2:36pm

Unfortunately your story is not an isolated one of being effectively denied police resources. It's mostly true that Chicago no longer has the 'manpower' (is there a better word?) to pursue property crimes, although there certainly are still cases of people with connections getting TV-cop-show level help.

 

Here's the deal with the stolen bicycle serial number database: there is a shared database that police departments nationwide can access.  Except they can't access Chicago.  That's per a cop outside CPD, so I don't know what the story is as to whether CPD can access their own numbers, or if they even get entered. But it sure doesn't sound like it.  I've been in a recovery situation where the (Chicago) cop could not pull up a Chicago police report even with the number. He spent about 10 minutes trying various things and was eventually able to access it by some other random bit of info. So it's just kind of a mess.



Jennifer Vacanti said:

As soon as my bike was taken I created a post on The Stolen Bike Registry and the Chainlink. When I called the police to report the bike after it was stolen, the officer taking the report over the phone was awful. He didn't take it seriously and made me repeat myself. I could tell he wasn't listening to me, so I got nasty with him and told him to write take down the serial number, because the bike was expensive, not just some old mountain bike. He gave me some excuse about how bikes are stolen everyday and I'm just another victim.

I tried to pry at the pawn shop and find out why my serial numbers had not come up when Cash America ran the numbers, if they even did, but I received no answers. I wanted to press charges against the Pawn shop but the detective told me I'm lucky that the pawn shop cooperated in the first place to give the police the paperwork, "evidence." Apparently they didn't have too. I asked the detective if the serial numbers were in the database? He said it was impossible for all the police stations to link up, manpower is limited. I don't know if my numbers were documented, except for on the police report.

Obviously, I can't write everything on here since it's open to the public. The detective really made it seem like he was going to pursue this. There was "evidence." I tried calling back to see if there was progress emailed, called, nothing. They just ignore me. It's been 8 months since the bike was found, so I feel like they gave up. I'm so very happy to have my bike back, but it makes me upset to know this person and I know this person is doing this to other people, not just bikes. If there is a way I can help let me know.

Permalink Reply by Matt Talbert on April 3, 2013 at 2:41pm

I wonder if this device would have been of any use:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1054587410/the-bikespike

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Vacanti on April 3, 2013 at 2:46pm

That's amazing.

Matthew Talbert said:

I wonder if this device would have been of any use:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1054587410/the-bikespike

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 3, 2013 at 2:50pm

Since this bike was stolen from inside your home it isn't "just a stolen bike" it's also a B&E and the fact that the cops didn't take this seriously from the start, and STILL are not taking it seriously pretty much confirms every bad thing I've ever thought and said about the police.  

This is ridiculous.  They claim they are here to "protect and serve" and all I'm seeing is BS and beatdowns.

This pisses me off more than I can say in an online forum. 

Permalink Reply by Matt Talbert on April 3, 2013 at 2:53pm

I 2nd you James. That is a major drop of the ball by CPD.

Also, I am stunned that Cash America did not have to hand over evidence that could have revealed the perp. I think they should be obligated to hand over such documentation, especially since there is clearly a crime involved here, beyond theft. Are there some kinds of ordinances protecting Pawn Shops? Also, they clearly didn't make an effort to check and see if the bike was stolen. I know Play it Again Sports and other used Bike Shops will check the stolen bike registry before agreeing to a purchase.

Permalink Reply by Justin B Newman on April 3, 2013 at 3:50pm

All pawn shops and second hand stores are required to document the purchase. The police just chose not to require Cash America to turn it over. There's no obligation for them to check the Registry -- doing so is just a way to protect themselves from buying something they have to then turn over to the police. Note that _today_ all that documentation has to be submitted to a central database. Before, it was slips of paper mailed to the police. If this were post-October, I'd track it down. Because it's from the paper days, it's probably a pain w/o a cooperating officer.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Vacanti on April 3, 2013 at 10:19pm

I appreciate all the comments and there's a lot of issues here that have been brought up. Would it be worth writing the Alderman? Who else would it be worth writing to about these things? I would like to find out more about my bike situation. Anyone have any suggestions on who to contact?

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 3, 2013 at 10:27pm

Didn't you have a pretty good idea of who the person was who took this -a friend/acquaintance of one of your roommates or someone like that?

If you have a name, and the pawn shop has a name it sure would be nice if the cops would get their asses out of the donut shop and do their damn jobs. 

1zt7hr8qm0y90Permalink Reply by 1zt7hr8qm0y90 on April 4, 2013 at 3:13am
OMG you poor victim. I would rather have my car stolen than my bike. Isn't anything sacred? This is the major reason why I ride a big box bike. It's cheap, nobody wants it and it serves multiple purposes instead of being specialized but bike theft regardless of its value is something I have a hard time dealing with and the more popular bikes get the more this will be a problem. Horse theives were shot on sight. I hope you find it.
1zt7hr8qm0y90Permalink Reply by 1zt7hr8qm0y90 on April 4, 2013 at 3:21am
Like I said. Cops are worthless scumbags, at least in major cities. In the boonies it's a different story. Let's beat the crap out of a 110 pound bar maid. HEY, I'm an off duty Chicago cop and I can do what I want.
Permalink Reply by Matt Talbert on April 4, 2013 at 3:44pm

Jennifer, I would definitely contact your alderman. They have an incentive to keep you happy since you are a voter. When I had issues with people parking in the bike lane on my commute to work, I called my alderman and she got the Dept. of Revenue out there to ticket violators. Alderman have tons of power, give yours a call and explain this story.

1zt7hr8qm0y90Permalink Reply by 1zt7hr8qm0y90 on April 4, 2013 at 9:53pm
What decade were you born in? No polititian cares about your bike, regardless of cost. Motorized vehicles and pedestrians have clout but bicycles are invisible in spite of the fact that they are, regardless of price the most efficient mode of travel. Call your Aldrerman. How is that accomplished? What special connections do you have? Go through the prompts, push a button and if you get to talk to a real live human being they have been trained to answer any question with "I'm sorry" or "I don't know" or "nobody by that name works here" or "we fired that person." It's not the 1970's anymore. Too bad. And you've burned precious minutes as opposed to a five minute conversation with a real live person with knowledge. Too bad. What about those that can't comprehend how to use a computer and I am one of those people so how do I respond to this thread? Human nature says "why didn't you do anything about it" as well as "it's not worth doing anything about it so why did you get involved." Either way, whatever works for the one you are relating to but certainly not you. It's yes if I want it to be and no if I don't want it to be. Take your choice and try to figure out the human race. If the human race were easy to figure out than the human race would be evolved and stable. Are you proud to be human? I'm not.

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