stolen bikes, spotted on gumtree, waiting for the police to respond. any advice?

Bike Forum

stolen bikes, spotted on gumtree, waiting for the police to respond. any advice?

20 posts & 18 voices | Started 11 months ago by peachos | Latest reply from user-removed

Tags:

No tags yet.

peachos - Member

my commuter and my housemate's bike were stolen last night. hers isn't really worth anything, maybe £30, mine a bit more - i built it up myself out of an old frame and parts but have spent money on wheels, decent tyres etc.

so i do the usual search on gumtree & spot my housemate's bike straight away. keep searching a bit & then see some components off my bike listed as well. have reported it to the police, then we got some more detail about where they are located from gumtree & now i'm just waiting to hear back from them.

obviously it's not a major priority for them, but it's frustrating. anyone got any advice on what i could do to get some help off the police quicker? wasn't really that bothered about it at first, but now i know where my stuff is i'm loads more pi$$ed off than before. i don't really want to go round myself because i'm a pussy, but i really feel like doing so...

Posted 11 months ago #
EccentricEllis - Member

I'd hate that. I hope it gets sorted.

All of my stolen bikes have never been reclaimed.

Posted 11 months ago #
Olly - Member

get "the boys" together, and go around and wee in their shoes.

Bike thieves are the worst kind of evil

Posted 11 months ago #
morgs - Member

old man rings police - "i have some youths in my garden trying to break in"
police - "we'll be with you in 40 mins"
old man - "0k" and hangs up
Two mins later, old man rings police
"you know those kids breaking in, well I shot them"
2 mins later the police arrive en masse
Policeman - "i thought you said you'd shot someone?"
Old man - "I thought you said you'd be 40 minutes"

digest and repeat

Posted 11 months ago #
singletracksurfer - Member

don't hold your breath. i've reported someone using (6+) stolen credit cards, got addresses, e-mail, paypal, ip address, mobile no, e-bay a/c and they still won't investigate - not even to just tell him they know what he's up to, so he keeps on going (value for the ones i know of alone is around 4k and thats just me, but its still not enough to warrant investigated i'm told).

also know someone having similar result with reporting a sexual abuse and theft incident.

think i'll change my line if work (not the sexual abuse stuff though)

Posted 11 months ago #
highclimber - Member

one word: Bombers

Posted 11 months ago #
nixon_fiend - Member

London?

If I were you, I'd arrange to go and buy the bike - hand over the cash, but take a note of address.

Tell him, you're looking for another bike - and in case he "finds" anything - can you get his name and mobile number?

Hey presto - hand over the details to the Old bill

Posted 11 months ago #
user-removed - Member

My mate's brother was in exactly this situation a few weeks back and I foolowed the saga on Facebook. He basically 'bought' the bike over the phone, got the guy's address, phoned the police and told them he was going round to collect it, and would they like to attend as it might get a bit messy.

Did the job - the police came out, went with him to reclaim the bike and it was a happy ending.

Posted 11 months ago #
Bregante - Member

^^^^^^

This would be my preferred course of action

Posted 11 months ago #
Sponging-Machine - Member

get a bit messy

This would be my preferred method.

Posted 11 months ago #
Hairychested - Member

fist pie time?

Posted 11 months ago #
Quirrel - Member

fist pie time?

Fat German women and surgical gloves?

Posted 11 months ago #
Hairychested - Member

Posted 11 months ago #
R.lepecha - Member

one word: Bombers

+1

Posted 11 months ago #
davidtaylforth - Member

Dont bother taking "bombers", that would be a huge mistake. Only someone on an internet cycling forum would suggest that.

Take a knife or a handgun.

Posted 11 months ago #
oldgit - Member

Stolen bike collection footwear.

Posted 11 months ago #
piemann - Member

something similar happened to me. I saw my stolen bike on ebay about 6 weeks after the theft. I called the police and told them I intended to win the auction at any cost and then pick up the bike in person, with no intention of handing any money over. When I told them I was planning to go meet the seller with a group of mates purely "for emotional support", they very quickly got on the case and I had my bike back 4 days later.

They were really, very, very good about the whole thing.

Posted 11 months ago #
mrmo - Member

So the moral of the story, if you want the police to do something threaten to lynch the thief. What a wonderful statement about how useful the police are.

Posted 11 months ago #
Shibboleth - Member

Tell the Police there's a racial element to the crime or that you feel persecuted, threatened and intimidated on the grounds of religion.

They'll be round in a jiffy.

Posted 11 months ago #
user-removed - Member

Peachos - turns out the guy I mentioned above phoned a specialist task force - I asked him how he went about the whole thing and he says to email cycletaskforce@met.police.uk and they'll guide you through the process. If I understand this correctly, they exist solely to retrieve stolen bikes and will help you using the course of action above...

Posted 11 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.

Singletrack Mountain Bike Magazine

Bike Forum

stolen bikes, spotted on gumtree, waiting for the police to respond. any advice?

Reply

Don't miss…

Singletrack

Website & Forums

Exits