me and my b-in-law were having a pint on the way home after a day in the hills, real quiet secluded pub, relaxed, chatting , when i see my bike go whizzing past the window.!
Leap up. out the door, b-in- law jumps on his bike and away after him, a guy in the pub comes out and gets his car, off we go– –thief has only gone into the churchyard round the corner, trying to hide, b in law spots him- grabs him, i get there, the scrote is shitting hiself, expecting a beating, blabbing about ‘i didn’t know it was your bike’ !– a car pulls up ,driver asking whats happening, tell him we ave caught a thieving toerag, he drives off slow down the lane, thief boy says he don’t know where he is–we let him go and watch him go done the lane to join his ‘accomplice’–i was just glad to get the bike back , reported the reg to north wales finest– they are going to check it out, and take a statement later– hindsight is a great thing, should of took the scrotes picture– glad we didn’t beat him — he would have thought that normal.

To be fair a good old fashioned beating would have made this story more entertaining though.

he didnt offer any resistance– his ‘mate’ didn’t want to play his hand,and as you may or may not know, there can be repercussions al la law, as reporting them may have more impact.

Id have made it look like he fell off the bike.. aim for ribs, collar bone, stamp on his hands. Why didn’t you phone the police whilst you had him and wait for them to turn up?

Glad you got your bike back (had my old hack bike stolen on Friday – cheap lock)
However, was yours locked? The amount of people i see leaving expensive bikes propped up unlocked outside cafes and pubs.

Yah an old fashion beating would be more entertaining, like a simple jab on a rib cage make it looks like OTB 😛 … Reporting to police works too 🙂

Where were you? Be helpful to warn others in the area.

Should have confiscated his trousers and sent him on his way.

The most disappointing “I caught a bike thief” story. Ever.

You didn’t catch him, you let him go.

You didn’t catch him, you let him go.

This. The Mods should rename the thread “Released a bike thief red handed”

Is there an explanation forthcoming for why you let him go???

I can see why you did what you did. Easy for the keyboard warriors to dish out e-beatings.

However he and his accomplice were probably laughing their cocks off at you as soon as the car started moving and then moved onto the next victim.

Hold him and call the police would have been my move in the situation you describe. Plus a couple of photos maybe, just to warn others in the area.

Was there not a staircase nearby he could have tripped and fallen down whilst trying to make his escape?

He’s learnt nothing from this apart from to pedal faster next time.

Minimum should have been to keep hold of him until the police picked him up.

However, was yours locked?

Thinking this myself

Leap up. out the door, b-in- law jumps on his bike

suggests to me bikes weren’t locked up.

They probably just moved on to the next town/victim, having a right laugh.

Probably get a ban or warned for this but you ferkin idiot.

Most likely moved onto another rider, maybe another stw user or one of riding buddies. No wonder they think were easy targets

rudebwoy – where were you? Llanberis area?

Agree that hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Well done on catching him, getting your bike back and keeping yourself restrained. So easy for those reading this with their tea and toast telling you what they would have done.

Mmmmm tea and toast 😛

Me, bike wouldn’t leave my side. But in reality I would of been fast asleep by the fire.

If I’d of caught him I would of sat on him til plod turned up & wee’d in his shoes

So easy for those reading this with their tea and toast telling you what they would have done.

It is, almost as easy as it will be for the would-be thief to target some other unfortunate sod instead of being in Plod’s care.

KEYBOARD WARRIORS ASSEMBLE!!

OP you did the right thing and you have your bike back, well done.

OP you did the right thing and you have your bike back, well done.

Yep, just leave the thieves to be someone else’s problem – that’s a great outcome. I mean, it’s not as if he’d already caught them or anything. 🙄

It’s quite cold at the moment isn’t it?

Perhaps you could have removed his trousers, and coat claiming you thought he might have a knife. Then call the police, but tell them to take their time?

Possibly a tour of the graveyard, just pointing out any spare plots, sort of Sicilian touch?

At least you got the bike back.

Realistically though, what are the police going to do?
Call them out, sit there with the thief for an hour or so until they bother to turn up, they’ll probably let him go there and then. If you’re lucky they might take him down the station, caution him and then let him go and in some ways, that shows the thief that he can continue to get away with it.

A mate caught a thief years ago – loading his car up to go away for a weekend, he came back outside and a guy rode past on his bike, the guy had lifted it off the back of the car. Mate gave chase, thief dropped the bike and ran so my mate just left it, got the bike back.

A courier friend of mine has a criminal record for not being very nice to thieves. The last unfortunate thief who attempted to take his bike ended up in hospital with a broken arm, my friend ended up in prison for assault… It went above and beyond what might be considered “reasonable force” and well into the realms of beating the shit out of someone.

You have let him get away to go nick someone else’s bike! Fool boy! He will never learn his lesson wi soft touches like you about! 🙄

How mature 🙄

Well done for not hurting him. Or pretending to on the Internet 😉

Is it just me or has the OP gone particularly silent. Personally I’d have gone down the confiscating his clothes route. It’s always a winner, especially in remote rural areas.

Congratulations on managing to get your bike back, sounds very lucky/and unlucky for it to happen in first place!!

It wasn’t the pub in cilcain was it? Been there a couple of times whilst out on the clwyds, always lock bike in van though as normally drive down from viewpoint. Would be very interested to know the area for future ref, being local an all!?

As a North Waleian meself could do with knowing where this happened.

what a soft touch

Sorry OP but you let them go red handed to steal someone else’s bike. As long as yours is safe and sound though now hey? Irrespective of what the police would/would not have done this was the way forward. A few pics posted on the net with location would have made people aware. A few sly jabs in the ribs to mimic an OTB would not have gone amiss, it’s not like there was two of you in a remote location with no witnesses.

Re. The keyboard warrior comments, most of us don’t seem to be querying why he didn’t give the guy a bearing, just why he let him go rather than wait for plod…

Worst story ever.

Personally I’d have walloped the git.

Taking his clothes would have been good too and then not bothering calling the old bil. Give him something physical to remember, like scar.

I dunno about keyboard warriors tbh. I’m a pacifist generally, but when I heard my garage being broken into and someone trying to get my (locked) bikes, I tore down the stairs and out of the front door ready to do an awful lot of something very forcefully. They’d run off, so I never got to find out what that something was.

I’d have been tempted to sit on the thief until the plod arrived. Or at least let him think he was going to be kidnapped and tortured or something.

Okay, before the rest of the Avengers Assemble the OP did exactly the right thing, assault of ANY kind would have landed the OP right in the doo dah so well done for being restrained enough to let the scumbag go…but, information is what the police (and some of the caped crusaders on here, would like, vehicle details, descriptions etc)

legal side- the OP could have arrested under this legislation (ignore the PCSO crap, it applies to ANY person…)

http://www.policecommunitysupportofficer.com/PCSOPowersofarrestsearch2006v1.pdf

Id have made it look like he fell off the bike.. aim for ribs, collar bone, stamp on his hands

Really? So you would have committed a far worse crime in retribution? What if you’d been on your own, and the thief was bigger/harder/tougher than you? Would you be such a big man then?

Easy for the keyboard warriors to dish out e-beatings.

Yet the reality is, that the vast majority of people will in fact stand by and watch something happen, without getting involved. Then perhaps act all brave and tough on an internet forum…

Well done to the OP, for showing restraint. And even if he’d held the thief until the police came, what would the outcome of that be? The thief could well claim he’d simply found the bike and was going to try to return it to it’s rightful owner. Doubtful the CPS would bother, unless the OP had sufficient witnesses/evidence (did he actually see the thief take the bike? Because that would be pertinent to any charge/conviction).

You have let him get away to go nick someone else’s bike! Fool boy! He will never learn his lesson wi soft touches like you about!

So he takes a beating, the OP is then guilty of a far worse crime, and the thief then decides to prevent any future beatings by arming himself with a weapon. Great. Because that sort of approach will really help combat crime. 🙄

Re. The keyboard warrior comments, most of us don’t seem to be querying why he didn’t give the guy a beating

A few sly jabs in the ribs to mimic an OTB would not have gone amiss

Was there not a staircase nearby he could have tripped and fallen down whilst trying to make his escape?

like a simple jab on a rib cage make it looks like OTB

Id have made it look like he fell off the bike.. aim for ribs, collar bone, stamp on his hands.

Taking his clothes would have been good too and then not bothering calling the old bil. Give him something physical to remember, like scar.

Lots of good advice on this thread that’s for sure. 🙄

Maybe the OP should have waited on plod but we don’t know the full circumstances. How long would he had to have waited. Could his mate went and got back up? etc.

Assaulting the guy seems like a bit of rough justice, but presumably after you have given him a bit of a doing you’ll have to let him go anyway as you don’t want done with assault. The bike thief will learn that the next time he tries to steal a bike he better make sure he is tooled up.