A stolen bike was put back in the place it had been taken from after the owner put up a poster addressed to the thief which said, “We know who you are.”
The child’s bike had been stolen from a communal garage in Velez-Malaga, with a woman reporting the theft to the Policia Nacional, according to a report in Malaga Hoy.
The moment the bike was taken was not captured by CCTV belonging to the residents’ association, but there was footage of a man – whose mask was down – interfering with the camera a few days beforehand, turning it around so it did not cover the bike parking area.
That enabled the mother of the child to whom the bike belonged to identify him as the suspected thief, and she put a notice on the door in the apartment block’s doorway which read: “Important. We know who you are. Return it to the place from which you took it, and I will not report you to the police. They’ve seen you.”
A few hours later, the bicycle reappeared in the same location from which it had been stolen, and the report of its theft to the police has been retracted.
We’ve seen a couple of other stories on Facebook recently of stolen bikes being reunited with their owners.
First up is this story of a very determined mother from southwest London who turned detective after her son’s bike was stolen and eventually managed to get it back a year later – and in the process helped police break up a bike theft ring, with around 30 high-end bikes, including a number of Brompton bicycles, recovered.
Then there’s this tale of a cyclist whose Pinarello was stolen last month in Clapham Junction and spotted in a branch of Cash Converters by a member of the Stolen Bikes in London Facebook group.
9 thoughts on ““We know who you are” – poster addressed to bike thief gets bike returned to owner”
Had 2 bikes stolen last year.
Had 2 bikes stolen last year. Spotted one on Gumtree the next day, and managed to get it back.
The other also sold on Gumtree but too fast for me to do anything. Insurance paid, and I got a new bike.
3 months later I spot the bare frame on eBay. I message the seller saying “this is my frame. Serial number is xxx, my address is yyy”
A week later, a box shows up with the frame and most of the groupset and components.
I contacted the insurance, and bought it back from them as they were the legal owner.
Had two bikes recently stolen
Had two bikes recently stolen. One was spotted on Facebook Marketplace a day later. I didn’t get there in time to make an arrangement to “purchase the bike”. However, the kid who did buy the bike felt something was a bit off from the sale, and saw my stolen bike post on facebook and returned it to me. Bike wasn’t in great shape however, and was written off by my LBS. Insurance paid out, and I was able to pay the kid who found my bike the money he lost in the sale.
Will Facebook not close the
Will Facebook not close the accounts of people who can be shown to be selling stolen goods? Is there any avenue to report such instances? Likewise Gumtree et al.
They didn’t shut down any of
They didn’t shut down any of the accounts who paved the way for the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas so I’m dubious. I suspect that even if they do close accoutns, the sellers can always reopen another account in another name. It seems that they’re not exactly rigoruous when it comes to checking identities.
Good on the kid who returned
Good on the kid who returned it to you and good on you for giving the kid some money. If only more people were like this.
The two mentions of insurance
The two mentions of insurance below. Noooo. Cyclists are well known for not having that devilry.
My experience of trying to
My experience of trying to get Facebook and eBay to cooperate in a time frame that would work is that they are very uncooperative. It’s no surprise that the police get a bad reputation when it comes to stolen bikes, but in their defence I’ve had nothing but good experience, they are resigned to getting no useful cooperation from the various online market places though. I spotted my stolen bike on both Facebook and eBay, informed the police, contacted both platforms, and it took so long to get a positive response that the bike was withdrawn or sold long before. Just get insurance and make sure it’s locked.
As an aside, I’m on the
As an aside, I’m on the commitee for a cycling club. We often get parents of kids who are new to the club asking for advice about buying bikes. I suggest a few shops that sell new. With regard to secondhand bikes, I always try and steer them away from Ebay or Facebook market place and I say how there is a risk of buying something that’s been stolen through these sources. I always suggest a couple of closed groups instead. Because these closed groups are from people in the sport, the sellers are almost always from other clubs and if we don’t know the sellers ourselves, they’re very often friends of friends. I also point out that in the closed groups, word would get round very quickly if anyone in there was selling anything dodgy and though no secondhand deal is 100% secure, the closed groups do offer far better peace of mind.
Aren’t places like Cash
Aren’t places like Cash Converters required to have a system in place to prevent them basically handling/selling on stolen items?