If you caught a bike thief in action, what would you do?

[Dougb]

Also, I cannot read this thread without thinking about the most notorious bike thief of the 1980s.

 

[neonorchid]

 

[crgildart]

I'd still step back and say "take the bike" even if armed..

Ultimately, I would certainly enjoy witnessing someone getting the shit kicked out of them for getting caught by the owner.. But that's about it. I don't think it's a capital offense or worth killing anybody over a bike, car, wallet, purse, etc.. It's just stuff. A life is forever and can't be replaced. Let the justice system deliver justice. Only if I'm pretty sure they are going to attack me even i try to avoid conflict, only them would I pull out the weapon and use it. Citizens arrest? Nope.. That makes it more likely I'd actually have to shoot them over a damned bike..

 

[skibob]

Ultimately, I would certainly enjoy witnessing someone getting the shit kicked out of them for getting caught by the owner.. But that's about it. I don't think it's a capital offense or worth killing anybody over a bike, car, wallet, purse, etc.. It's just stuff. A life is forever and can't be replaced. Let the justice system deliver justice. Only if I'm pretty sure they are going to attack me even i try to avoid conflict, only them would I pull out the weapon and use it. Citizens arrest? Nope.. That makes it more likely I'd actually have to shoot them over a damned bike..

I had a roommate who killed someone in self-defense. I think most people underestimate how hard that is to deal with. And his case was 100% necessary and clear cut. He was never even detained by the police. They required him to notify them if he was planning to leave the state. And then several days later they called him and said the investigation was complete and he could do whatever he wanted. But man that messed him up.

 

[Bad Bob]

Caught 1 once. Freshman in college and not a lot of money. Bought a shinny new Schwinn Varsity in bright green which was an unusual color. Came out of class one day and it was gone. Kept an eye out on campus and spotted it. Staked it out with a couple of large friends. The guy shows up and starts to get ready to ride and we stepped up. He denied of course but had a difficult time explaining why I had a receipt for the bike and he didn't, so he finally fessed up. Gave him a choice, we call the cops or he buys the bike from me for twice what I paid to cover shoe leather. He choose option #2 and he then owned the bike.
Seemed very fair at the time.

 

[crgildart]

Somewhere a couple years ago there was a story about some lady who saw her stolen bike posted on Craigslist She responded to the ad and agreed to meet the seller thief at McDonalds. She asked them if she could ride it first... and you guessed it.. took off without looking back on her own bike. She stole it back like a boss..

 

[Tony Storaro]

What would you do?

Given the rate of knife attacks in London and having lived in the city for quite a while, probably absolutely nothing.

 

[pete]

Somewhere a couple years ago there was a story about some lady who saw her stolen bike posted on Craigslist She responded to the ad and agreed to meet the seller thief at McDonalds. She asked them if she could ride it first... and you guessed it.. took off without looking back on her own bike. She stole it back like a boss..

My brother had very similar occurrence, in his case his beloved self customized bike was stolen from his garage. It was unique and he loved the frame, Chomemoly for the road. He and his kids would eye Craig's list. year and half later his kid saw an ad. My brother agreed to meet the guy at a local shopping center, he contacted the police who sent a detective and spoke with my brother before hand. My brother had no receipt as it was custom build up by himself but he had so much detail on the bike, the detective went with believing him.

He met up with the guy with the detective off to the side watching from his car, upon confirming it was his bike my brother waved over to the detective who asked the guy questions. Boiled down to the detective giving the guy (who claimed the bike was given to him for a deck job but couldn't say where the job was done) a choice to agree it was likely stolen and hand it over to my brother or to let the detective impound it and let the two go to court and possibly charges.

Guy gave it to my brother.

My brother was super happy as only damage was the saddle. He knew the bike in and out knowing every minor flaw on the frame or assembly, including a derailleur part he machined (and provided a drawing for).

Detective guessed he was a bit more than an enthusiast and an engineer.

 

[François Pugh]

My lawyer would strongly dissuade me from answering this question. So I'm saying nothing.

 

[newboots]

Living in the northeast where it's less common for people to carry guns, I'm a little surprised at the number of people posting about brandishing or shooting a weapon to respond to theft of property. Not my thing.

 

[Uncle-A]

Living in the northeast where it's less common for people to carry guns, I'm a little surprised at the number of people posting about brandishing or shooting a weapon to respond to theft of property. Not my thing.

It is said that "if you shoot someone for stealing your stuff you value your stuff more than their life, but the opposite is also true if you are stealing someone's stuff you value their stuff more than your own life". I don't know if either is correct but it shows that there are two or more sides to a discussion.

 

[newboots]

if you are stealing someone's stuff you value their stuff more than your own life".

Do the thieves anticipate being killed?

Thinking this through, I do think addicts (the aforementioned junkies) do value the drugs they can buy after stealing those bikes more than life itself. Opioids make changes in the brain that drive chasing the high over anything else. They risk their lives almost every time they use.

But non-addicts thieves? The pros in the videos? I don’t think they anticipate being shot in the street. So maybe they don’t value your stuff more tuan life.

 

[Coach13]

When it comes to someone trying to steal my stuff I’m not very polite nor forgiving, so it wouldn’t go well at all.

 

[crgildart]

Day after Christmas in 1970 something my brand new Hotfingers gloves got stolen off the table in the lodge.. I was about 11 They had rope tow guards on them and I had put cotton balls inside the ends of the fingers because of course they were too big for me. Super cold day. I dragged a chair outside the frond door of the lodge and just sat there until I saw some kid coming in with a pair that looked exactly like mine but missing the rope tow guards.

A sked the kid if I could see the gloves.. wanting to check for the cotton in the fingers. Kid was acting guilty, and I escalated asking for my gloves back.. Scuffle quickly got the attention of lodge employees, lodge manager and a patrol. We were separated and asked to tell our side of the altercation. I told them about the cotton in the fingers of the gloves. They checked and confirmed the gloves were mine. Kid and his friend/brother got to wait in the patrol room for their parents to come get them. I never left anything on the table unattended again.

 

[François Pugh]

It is said that "if you shoot someone for stealing your stuff you value your stuff more than their life, but the opposite is also true if you are stealing someone's stuff you value their stuff more than your own life". I don't know if either is correct but it shows that there are two or more sides to a discussion.

In the heat of the moment when you catch someone stealing your stuff, you may not take the time to think it through. That could be a problem for some folks; not everyone lives on 40 acres and owns a backhoe.

 

[Uncle-A]

Do the thieves anticipate being killed?

Thinking this through, I do think addicts (the aforementioned junkies) do value the drugs they can buy after stealing those bikes more than life itself. Opioids make changes in the brain that drive chasing the high over anything else. They risk their lives almost every time they use.

But non-addicts thieves? The pros in the videos? I don’t think they anticipate being shot in the street. So maybe they don’t value your stuff more tuan life.

You are correct about the drug addicts, they risk their life every time they do drugs. The pro in the video has been conditioned by society that if caught there are no consequences, so no they don't feel any risk of being killed. That might be a big part of the problem.

 

[AtleB]

I have chased bike thieves away twice. Would do it again in similar situation, but probably not if the thief looked more threatening or had friends around.

 

[Mike Thomas]

Just gonna leave this right here. It's what people do, not what they say or think they would do.

 

[Uncle-A]

Just gonna leave this right here. It's what people do, not what they say or think they would do.

In NYC people don't want to get involved. I wonder what would happen in small town USA?

 

[Wilhelmson]

It all depends on the circumstances. If I were in the city I might do something. It would be very random for me to be in the city without my family seeing a bike stolen.