Bike Thief PHOTO: stealing Red Specialized @ 165 N Canal 9/23

Forwarded from a friend. She wasn't able to do enough to stop him, but did get a photo of a man stealing a bike across from 165 N Canal.

Apparently, he took the tire off the bike that was locked via ulock to a pole, put a new one on and rode away.

Stray Observations:

  1. Pass this on to people you know who had a bike (or tire) stolen yesterday. Perhaps it will bring them joy, anger, closure or all of the above.
  2. PLEASE LOCK YOUR BIKE BETTER. Holy crap people. Resource: http://www.activetrans.org/commute/tricks-tips/parking
  3. He obviously stole a front tire from another bike and then helped himself which totally settles the "what the hell do these people do with one tire"question I've always had.
  4. Memorize this face and if you see him walking around with a bike part, call the police and start yelling at him so people will start looking. (Insert warning about being REALLY SURE THIS IS THE SAME PERSON - the missing front teeth and glasses are helpful.)
  5. Please don't do the chainlink troll thing and yell about my friend not chaining herself to the bike and pulling a batman on this crook. You weren't there, you don't know my friend and until you earn some sincere bike thief vigilante street cred - shut up.

Sorry if # 4 was ugly or presumptuous. I'm just tired of the non constructive discussions and honestly don't have time for it.

BOO BIKE THIEVES!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Drewbacca on September 25, 2013 at 5:34am


Why is anyone even arguing with this guy? He's either Rambo or a troll. 


Tom Dworzanski said:

Pulling a gun on a thief is a perfectly rational response, especially in this situation. It immediately levels the playing field and saves the property. And if a person is brazen enough to continue stealing a bike with a gun pointed at him, a couple bullets in the leg until the cops show up are perfectly appropriate.  

 

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on September 25, 2013 at 5:40am

Because I can't help it sometimes...

@Tom, I live in a neighborhood that has a lot of gun violence.  My neighbors are gang members and I talk to them from time to time.  A very good friend lives in an even more violent neighborhood and frequently talks to the corner boys in her area.  The overwhelming theme is that many of them expect to be shot or to have to shoot somebody because that is the world they live in; people get shot over turf, girls or revenge.  I know that to get out of the gangs peoples options are beat downs or being shot in the leg and that the lifestyle is hard to escape.

Last year at this time my neighbor was shot over a turf conflict igniting my neighborhood and there were multiple shootings on my block in a very short period.  I live with gun violence everyday, do you?  What do you know about gangs?

As for shooting at cops it is a very small percentage but it still happens and if more people have guns the number of confrontations go up which means the number of incidents of violence so up; I also think that a criminal is more likely to shoot at a civilian with a gun than a cop with a gun.

Drewbacca said:


Why is anyone even arguing with this guy? He's either Rambo or a troll. 


Tom Dworzanski said:

Pulling a gun on a thief is a perfectly rational response, especially in this situation. It immediately levels the playing field and saves the property. And if a person is brazen enough to continue stealing a bike with a gun pointed at him, a couple bullets in the leg until the cops show up are perfectly appropriate.  

 

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on September 25, 2013 at 5:46am

I'm not trying to troll. I make no effort to hide my identity, I genuinely and with the best intentions express my opinions, and I try to be respectful as I can of those who disagree with me (unless they attack me personally in which case I do my best but often fail). I'm not Rambo either though. I'm just a guy who cares.

I do feel bad for turning this thread into a gun debate. I didn't know it would get people as upset as it did. It seems to me that unless one believes the second amendment will be repealed any time soon, "gun control" as we knew it for the last couple generations is over. SCOTUS has ruled. So these are important things to talk about. Maybe they should be discussed elsewhere though.



Drewbacca said:


Why is anyone even arguing with this guy? He's either Rambo or a troll. 


Tom Dworzanski said:

Pulling a gun on a thief is a perfectly rational response, especially in this situation. It immediately levels the playing field and saves the property. And if a person is brazen enough to continue stealing a bike with a gun pointed at him, a couple bullets in the leg until the cops show up are perfectly appropriate.  

 

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on September 25, 2013 at 5:53am

Thanks for sharing. I respect your point of view very much.

I don't live in a gang-infested area (never have) but I do care about those areas as a Chicagoan most of my life (save college and a short Wall Street career right after).

What do you think of Otis McDonald and his argument?

notoriousDUG said:

@Tom, I live in a neighborhood that has a lot of gun violence.  My neighbors are gang members and I talk to them from time to time.  A very good friend lives in an even more violent neighborhood and frequently talks to the corner boys in her area.  The overwhelming theme is that many of them expect to be shot or to have to shoot somebody because that is the world they live in; people get shot over turf, girls or revenge.  I know that to get out of the gangs peoples options are beat downs or being shot in the leg and that the lifestyle is hard to escape.

Last year at this time my neighbor was shot over a turf conflict igniting my neighborhood and there were multiple shootings on my block in a very short period.

Permalink Reply by Dean Bekken on September 25, 2013 at 5:58am
I see groups of punks - 2 to 3 to a group - riding around with "spare" wheels on their backs. Can we trouble the CPD to ask these kids where they live, maybe follow them home?
Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on September 25, 2013 at 6:45am



h' 1.0 said:

Does this campaign to get the CPD to care about bike theft move from internet musings to real-life action at some point?

I think it would be nice. Is this something we can hope Active Trans will lead? If not, can they support people who do lead the charge with statistics, tactical information and such?

I view organizations like CPD as huge, inscrutable bureaucracies. I think you need some knowledge of the inner workings of the organization to have a prayer of getting your proposal to the proper people.

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on September 25, 2013 at 6:51am

My gut feeling is they should be running sting operations. But I don't know if I like the idea of loading up our jails with bike thieves because I don't think serious criminals would waste their time on bikes. Maybe just a hefty ($1,000) ticket and a driver's license revocation (turning the thief into a bike rider worried about thieves stealing his bike -- the ultimate justice!)

h' 1.0 said:

Does this campaign to get the CPD to care about bike theft move from internet musings to real-life action at some point?

 


Dean Bekken said:

I see groups of punks - 2 to 3 to a group - riding around with "spare" wheels on their backs. Can we trouble the CPD to ask these kids where they live, maybe follow them home?
Permalink Reply by David Barish on September 25, 2013 at 6:57am

Wow. I happened upon this thread.  I see a picture of a guy stealing a bike and hoped to see an on line discussion of how the picture is helping catch the bad guy and reunite the bike owner with his/her lost bike.  Instead I see a discussion of how the guy should have been shot and  a policy debate.  I have a strong opinion in that regard and will keep it to myself because it does not matter  for this thread.  Lets assume the thief was not shot and that Rebecca had a camera phone as her weapon. ok, lets move  on.  Do the Police have this picture?  Has  anybody seen the guy?  Are we helping anything like this community has done in the past where on line CSI has helped reconstruct accidents?  Just wondering. 

Permalink Reply by Drewbacca on September 25, 2013 at 7:01am


It's really hard to take anyone seriously after suggesting to shoot a thief in the leg... even if in jest, any thoughts of a serious discussion go out the window at that point.


Tom Dworzanski said:

I'm not trying to troll. I make no effort to hide my identity, I genuinely and with the best intentions express my opinions, and I try to be respectful as I can of those who disagree with me (unless they attack me personally in which case I do my best but often fail). I'm not Rambo either though. I'm just a guy who cares.

Permalink Reply by djm on September 25, 2013 at 7:28am

I dont want to contribute to this thread except to note that a shot to the leg can be fatal in minutes if an artery is struck.

Permalink Reply by Michelle on September 25, 2013 at 7:42am

Is this true? 

I mean, if so, what is the point of security cameras etc... ? If not to catch an image. Would it be better if the photographer had snapped a series of photos of the bolt cutting, and then riding away with the bike? 


h' 1.0 said:

Unfortunately there's not a damn thing you can do with a picture of a guy allegedly stealing a bike in Chicago city limits. Your only option is to intervene as it's happening.

 

David Barish said:

Wow. I happened upon this thread.  I see a picture of a guy stealing a bike and hoped to see an on line discussion of how the picture is helping catch the bad guy and reunite the bike owner with his/her lost bike.  Instead I see a discussion of how the guy should have been shot and  a policy debate.  I have a strong opinion in that regard and will keep it to myself because it does not matter  for this thread.  Lets assume the thief was not shot and that Rebecca had a camera phone as her weapon. ok, lets move  on.  Do the Police have this picture?  Has  anybody seen the guy?  Are we helping anything like this community has done in the past where on line CSI has helped reconstruct accidents?  Just wondering. 

Permalink Reply by Marcus Moore on September 25, 2013 at 8:16am

Do you mean like stop and frisk?  What about the non-punks carrying "spare wheels" (jk- joke).  

Have you ever been stopped, searched or detained by cops for "looking suspicious"?  It's not fun-let me assure you.  That kind of action can actually hurt community respect for the police.

Aside from that- I don't know what the solutions to this problem are.  Theft is a frustrating problem- for sure.


Dean Bekken said:

I see groups of punks - 2 to 3 to a group - riding around with "spare" wheels on their backs. Can we trouble the CPD to ask these kids where they live, maybe follow them home?

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