suspicious looking CL posts that clearly push stolen bikes - what to do?

I usually flag them after looking very closely, but I saw one recently that just keeps itching at me...

It was a bike with no front wheel AND the rear wheel still u-locked to the frame. Now, if that's not suspicious, I don't know what is! I flagged it and moved on, but can't seem to shrug it off.

SO

What options do we have to do something about the ones that are clearly (or at least very likely) stolen... other than reporting to uninterested cops?

Why not post right here on this forum?

Better idea, anyone??
H??

For example: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/1100811060.html
May not be stolen, but awfully odd otherwise, right??

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 2, 2013 at 12:45am

Did Dug hack into Howard's account?

Lolzers.  Must be a slow day.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on April 2, 2013 at 4:40am

You seriously have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to bike theft i n Chicago; sorry but no matter how much you want to be right you are not.

Being older does not immediately add validity to what you say...

John C. Wilson said:

Everybody here knows everything including where I live and what I eat. What kind of people are you that you would go there. FYI, after a 33 year continuous residence in the City of Chicago I moved to Evanston in 2010, in part because my mother lives here now. My 91 year old mother. There are reasons a family member would want to be nearby for an aged parent. Is that good enough for you? Make fun of my mother as you make fun of everything else, go ahead, it says more about you than it does about me. And yesterday I had Easter brunch with my mother and then went for a nice long bike ride, so sorry to diasappoint h1's expectation of snappy replies.

I have recovered a handful of stolen bicycles in my time. My time is longer than yours. For that reason alone you should have a little respect. I know others who have recovered bikes. The common denominator in bicycle thieves, from personal observation, is that they are twelve years old. You can call out the drones if you want. The simple way to deal with a 12 year old bike thief is to offer him $20 for the bike.

Someone has one example of genuine organized bike theft. And grand suspicions about Shining Bikes. Let me know when you have something better than a Yelp on that place. The one example you've got they were total dumbshits (surprise) and the police nabbed them easy. The same police you say have no interest in property crimes.

I once recovered a nice classic Lejeune just laying in the alley. When I found the owner 3 years later he told me a little kid  - less than 12 for sure -  grabbed it out of the yard and rode off. I found it six blocks away. Could that bike have ended up at a swap? Sure. I would not deserve to be shot if I had done just that.

James BlackHeron writes simply and effectively. He writes what he knows. If you understand English you know what he said. He was completely on-topic. Attempts to demean him reflect solely on the authors.

Theft of higher end bikes happens constantly as inside jobs by people working in the industry. The recipients of that stolen property always consider themselves "connected" rather than fences. Most such clowns really never know that the bike is hot. And the bikes circulate a long time. They're good bikes and they last. When it ends up at a swap or a resale decades later you can freak out or you can say shit happens.

I'm out of here. With a short list of posters completely full of themselves. I'll talk to someone interested in bikes instead of someone who's only interested in their ego.

Permalink Reply by Ed Corcoran on April 2, 2013 at 1:52pm

I live around the corner from this place, and there was some police activity there around 6pm. I was walking by and saw a guy checking out a bike that was for sale. Then I saw a cop car drive past, make a u-turn, and pull up by the place the bikes were stored. The guy checking out the bike was on the phone, so I don't know if he called the cops because he found a stolen bike, was an undercover cop or was just a guy who happened to be there. The cops talked to the people there and then left. I don't know any more details to that. 

Permalink Reply by Jaik S. on August 11, 2014 at 10:55am

According to Google maps, this looks like it's on Richmond...right? I went by 2906 W. Armitage today, but there was a restaurant. I'll have to swing back by there. Rumor has it that there was a bike like mine in the area. This is the first place that came to mind.

Anne Alt said:

I had an inquiry from someone newly arrived in town about responding to a Craigslist ad and encountering a situation that seemed suspicious to her at 2906 W. Armitage.  Are any of you familiar with this place?  The text of her inquiry follows:

The reason I'm contacting you today is to just share concerns over a bike sales operation I discovered today, through an ad on Craiglist.

My husband was looking for a large frame bike, and found one listed on W Armitage, so we went to have a look.

The guy had a large room with over a hundred bikes there. They were all secondhand, varying condition, and I think that most if not all were adult bikes.

It all seemed very suspicious. As a Londoner sadly bike theft is something I see all the time, I've lost two bikes myself in the past few years.  So I hope I'm wrong about this but it seemed a very suspicious set up.

I'm new here and don't want to jump to conclusions or make trouble, so I'm writing just to ask firstly if you know of a legitimate bike business at that address, and if not, what should be done to investigate the possibility of organized thefts in that area.

Here's the ad and some pics I took there.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/3693197024.html

Here's a list of Craigslist ads that currently come up for the same seller.  Her photos are below.

Permalink Reply by Jaik S. on August 11, 2014 at 12:09pm

Just went by. That same paper is on the door and windows. Part of the corner was ripped down, looked inside...

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on August 12, 2014 at 3:01am

There is a new used bike shop N of Avondale on Milwaukee, on the east side of the street.  I rode by it yesterday.  No sign, just a piece of paper in the window.   I'll try to stop by and see what bikes they have FS.

Permalink Reply by Jaik S. on August 12, 2014 at 3:26am

Is it Bacardi Bikes? The internet says they're new, around that area on Milwaukee. 

3437 N. Milwaukeee ave


Apie (10.6) said:

There is a new used bike shop N of Avondale on Milwaukee, on the east side of the street.  I rode by it yesterday.  No sign, just a piece of paper in the window.   I'll try to stop by and see what bikes they have FS.

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