Lots of people recovering their own bikes this week - it is, after all, the high season - just a quick recap:
Seattle: Went around to pawnshops this morning after met with an officer, and dropped off SN and description. About an hour and a half later, one of them called the police and they in turn called me. Thanks for providing this excellent service, but no longer needed.
Portland: Just wanted to let you know a friend of (redacted)s found my bike in the yard of known meth house ... today, and repossessed it for me. I'm in NYC so I'm not completely clear on the address - there's a camper in front of it, that's the only detail I got.
Portland #2: My bike and I have been re-united! It was sold at a pawn shop so my serial number worked in my favor for this situation. The guy that stole my bike sold it to a cab driver for $60. He then sold it to (REDACTED) shop for $100. My $1300 bike sold for $100??? I don't get their logic. Guess that's why I'm not a thief. The pawn shop recorded the serial number on the bike (since they have to legally have to) and it came up stolen on the police records and that's when I got notified. It was taken to the pawn shop two days after it was stolen from me. And now it's with me. Lesson learned: use a U lock and know the serial.
Minnesota: I had my bike stolen last week and put it up on your site, but then AMAZINGLY it was located almost immediately by the police via the Automated Pawning System in Minneapolis - It was pawned right away, so almost all my gear was still there too, I was amazed!! They said they usually don't get higher end bikes back! So I wanted to take down my post, or at least post a victory story! If other people have APS in their cities, it's a great resource to call if you think your bike was pawned...and if they don't have it, they should vye for it with their local police department!
Tucson: My Surly was recovered! I'm not sure if it was stolenbicycleregistry or not (It could have been TucsonVelo ... or even Craigslist), but someone at (REDACTED) encountered a suspicious looking fellow with the bike, googled "stolen surly long haul trucker tucson," found the serial, found that it matched, and wouldn't let the person leave! I'm not sure how common these stories are, but I suspect not very, and I'm very happy to have my bike back (though it looks quite a bit different...).
I'm going to have to get in touch with these Automated Pawn System folks in Minneapolis ... looks like a good system.
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2 comments:
So I'm wondering how this works..do you find stolen bikes and post them so people who had them stolen have the opportunity to get them back?..My boyfriend and I are in San Francisco and had our bikes stolen this past Sunday. We plan to check out the flea markets..any other suggestions? Thanks!
Other way around - I run www.stolenbicycleregistry.com, where people who have had bikes stolen can list them in the hopes of getting them back. If you've had bikes stolen please feel free to register them there.
As for suggestions - file a police report and check craigslist in addition to the flea markets.
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