I saved 2 bikes from being stolen last night. Chicago and Damen.

My post from Craigslist:

 

If you or anyone you know had 2 bikes locked together, and locked up, outside of CHICKPEA on Chicago, just West of Damen.... let them know. I have them safe in my garage.
Last night around 1am we witnessed a black man in a white van trying to steal them. He got the lock off that held the 2 bikes to the bike rack, but didn't get the bikes before we saw him and pulled over to stop him. We called 311, but the cop said if she took the bikes they would go straight into inventory. So...we took them and decided to be good bike owners. I would hate if we had left them and that guy had come back to take them.
So! I hope you read this. Your bikes are safe, although the seat on the black one is missing.
If they're yours, send me an email and tell me what kind of bikes they are and what brand seat is on the red one. I would love to get them back to their owners!!

 

Someone wanted more details and was pretty rude about it, so then I posted this:

Black man. Shaved head. About 5'10", 220lbs. Big white conversion van with tinted windows in the back, none on the side. He was using a skillsaw to cut the lock and covered it with a black tarp. I only noticed what was happening because sparks were flying out from under the tarp. I pulled over, he drove off. He cut the lock that held them to the rack, but not the one locking them to each other.
I have the license plate number, and gave it to the police officer. She believes it's a guy from Maywood who has done this before. In fact, she's sure of it.
Sorry if my first post lack all these details, dick. I'm just trying to get these people their bikes back. The cop told me that if she took them, they would end up in a police auction. She told ME to take them and thought my idea of putting up a Craiglslist post was fantastic. I was not about to leave them there unlocked, cause I knew the jerkface bike theif would come back for them.

 

Email me at sjstevens23@gmail.com if they are yours!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wesley Dolezal on July 13, 2010 at 3:12pm
Things are getting more and more interesting

H3N3 said:
FYI we got the search on the Stolen Bike Registry fixed.
Reports have been streaming in at a scary rate the past few weeks.
We'll keep an eye out for any new listings reported stolen from these coordinates.

Thanks for intervening, and for the detailed information. The description definitely is a match for the guys we keep recovering stolen bikes from at the Swap-O-Rama, and the "white van" has been purported to be the epicenter of downtown and north side bike theft for several years.

We need to get this guy on film stealing a bike.
Permalink Reply by Digital Dario on July 13, 2010 at 4:57pm
After thinking about this all day I have come to wonder, what type of lock was it ?
Permalink Reply by Vilda on July 13, 2010 at 6:34pm
There are 18 white vans :-) That whole Swap parking lot is full of white vans ;-)
Permalink Reply by Amber K on July 14, 2010 at 2:22am
Yeah, need better discriptions like a dent in the drivers side door or something to distinguish the white van from other white vans.

Gabe said:
There are 18 white vans :-) That whole Swap parking lot is full of white vans ;-)
Permalink Reply by Brendan Kevenides on July 14, 2010 at 3:25am
Thanks for doing this!
Permalink Reply by Sara Jean on July 14, 2010 at 3:34am
i'm pretty sure it was a kryptonite ulock. of course.
anyway, i'm happy to let everyone know that the owners of the bikes saw the little note i taped to the rack where they had been locked, and are coming this morning to get their beloved bikes! yayyy!
as far as the dick in the white van...i'm 95% certain i would recognize his face if i saw him. not that that helps the cause. the cop said we have to get him actually stealing bikes.
my boyfriend memorized the license plate number, gave it to the cop...and didn't write it down. i'm not sure he still remembers it.
Permalink Reply by Sara Jean on July 14, 2010 at 4:01am
oh, license plate number! the boyfriend DID write it down...
K31 8071 registered in maywood, IL
Permalink Reply by Chris Hainey on July 14, 2010 at 4:32am
Has anyone been checking the Swap-o-Rama in Melrose Park for stolen bikes? If this guy is from Maywood, that would be his closest fencing spot.

Sarah Layton said:
Good for you for doing such a service! You scored some karma bonus points!!!
Permalink Reply by igz on July 14, 2010 at 5:23am
This guy is a regular at Ashland Swap o Rama

Chris Hainey said:
Has anyone been checking the Swap-o-Rama in Melrose Park for stolen bikes? If this guy is from Maywood, that would be his closest fencing spot.

Sarah Layton said:
Good for you for doing such a service! You scored some karma bonus points!!!
Permalink Reply by XV on July 14, 2010 at 6:57am
Someone should setup a WIKI for aggregating bike thief info
Permalink Reply by Liam on July 14, 2010 at 7:30am
nice job
Permalink Reply by Vilda on July 14, 2010 at 10:06am
XV - that's a great idea! However you need to verify that the information is correct and in this case it is not. IF (and it sure seems that way based on the other details) we are dealing with the same thief that the police are aware of (AA Male, white van, etc...) the plates that Sera posted are wrong. They are a match but for 2 digits. ( I took a pic of the plate on our last swap ride)

Now I think we are still dealing with the same person. BUT I think that it just happened that the plate was copied down or remembered wrong. This is a super common occurrence. Plates can be tough to read in a good situation but add stress, poor lighting, adrenaline. A lack of experience dealing with those situations. It's damn near impossible.

Here's the problem, and i want all the police bashers to read this. If the officer had responded to the scene and run the plate you gave him (which he shouldn't do since he didn't see it himself). And it coincidentally matched a white van as well, and he went storming over there with back up and went lookin for a crook, that isn't a crook, and that isn't there. What then?

This cop is now the one on the hook. And you are still just a civilian. Whoopsie? Sorry Officer?

There are regulations regarding running of plates and other things regarding this situation that don't allow the police to do what you want/wish which is be a fascist police state officer. They can't just willy nilly run plates and knock down doors and that's cause we all have rights.

Also, you stopped the theft. So say you did get the plate right. What then? The real crook does not have stolen merchandise. The police officer has the word of a stranger that some guy tried to steal something. Inadmissable as evidence. Sorry Charlie.

They weren't even your bikes, so there was no angle for the responding officer to take. Say everything lined up and he listened to Sera and went to this guys house. Then what? Sir this woman says you stole someone else's bike? Huh? I'm gonna show up to your house and say you stole my TV. It doesn't work that way either.

Take pics to document so that records are accurate. Then a WIKI page would work better. Also STOP RAGGIN ON COPS! Cops is plural. There are many out there and I'm friends with some of them. Good and bad. There are bad cops and good cops and you don't win points with either if you go in to the argument treating them as an asshole.

This cop did his job. Sera, you saved two bikes and returned them to the rightful owner, that is admirable! Well done! Beyond that this is done. We need to work with the police to get there support not badger them with nonsense.

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