indeed cathartic... as i just had my bike ripped off a few moments ago... not sure how to assess all of this morally, personally, I would just be glad not to have my bike stolen and tell him off. I don't like physical violence in any circumstance if I can avoid it.

this guy stole my bike two years ago. I know because I found it chained to a fence on washington square. i put my own lock on the bike and waited for him to come back. I believed this guy when he said he bought it on the street. Die bike thief scum. 

jeez, you know times are tough when the jerry's kids have now resorted to bike theft, bro.

there's a special hell for bike thieves. no sympathy here. fuck em!

hell yeah! that's the way it should be.

my daughter's bike (my wife's older $1100 mountain bike) was stolen from a buddy of mine's house a couple weeks ago. and it wasn't laying out in the yard, it wasn't obvious, the other bikes weren't touched. she cried. believe me, the beat down would have been a lot worse had I found the thief.

when you steal a bike, you're stealing something personal - something a person bonds with. it's not just a piece of abstract machinery. it's something you put your blood, sweat and tears into.

ONe I live in San Francisco, saw this post and just had to comment even though I've only read like maybe the first 20 to 30 posts.....

If you steal my bike and I catch you.....

Your going to the hospital, frack' the cops.

I don't care about witness's or camera's.

The last to guys to try to mug me as well as the last guy to pick a 'Bar fight' with me went to the hospital.

Street Justice rocks when your in the right.

You tend to walk away without even talking to a cop besides....

"Yea, so he's going to spend more time in the hospital than he would in jail."

When they roll up on ya' and ask if you were involved.

Pretty sad how many people get any sense of relief from the grief of their own losses due to theft. As if another's pain brings any thing back to you.

Bunch of pussy-ass New York office kids living vicariously threw a video of mongrels with not self control.

Just because violence makes us feel good - or somehow "avenged" - that does not make it okay. It should only be used in self-defense. Otherwise, its a slippery slope. As an enthusiastic cyclist who has had his bike stolen in the last month, I still say that when seeing violence feels good, there is some serious self-examination to be done.

I wonder how many of these Big Men with Big Words opined about Bush's cowboy vigilantism before coming here to cheer the beating of someone who is clearly remedial and physically harmless. If you think stealing a bike is the same as assault, you've got a pretty warped philosophy. How were you damaged? You prevented the crime and scared him. That was all they needed to do instead of going all Lord of the Flies. "Sucks to your hel-met."

I would've had a LOT more respect for these vigilantes if the guy had been big, black, burly and looked gangsta.

As it stands, they look like a couple of pussies momentarily feeling "hard" because the thief didn't look like the type who was going to give them any trouble. Woulda been a different story had the guy been 6'1, tattooed, had pants down to his ankles and was corn-rowed. Then they would've wet their pants and called the police like they should.

Incidentally, that green helmet is a freebie they hand out at Summer Streets.

I think on the street, we consent to a beatdown if we get caught stealing other people's stuff. I think this thief understood.

Did you notice that the bike thief never asked for help. He just accepted his punishment, never said a word nor fought back.

new link to video:

http://vimeo.com/6475675

Updated the embed, thanks.

The guys who hit the "thief" are idiots. He could take the video and press charges against them. He has video evidence - what do they have? Their word?

Video's gone. Can someone post it elsewhere? (and let us know where it is) thanx

Kreo,

Apparently there's some "gangsta rule of the hood" that you think applies in this real-world scenario. Problem is -- Gangsta rules get one dead and leaves your murder unsolved. Better to call your friends in.

This is the greatest thing to happen in our fair shit hole in a while. Fuck thieves. You steal you dserve to get your shit handed to you. Bike culture, whatever. That's not the point. The point is law enforcement is shit in this town. People should be able to ride a bicycle and lock it up somewhere without it being stolen by one of our Caribbean friends. Lowlifes have too much play here. They need to be stomped, killed, gassed, amputated, destroyed, etc. This could have been a better beatdown I'm sure but then there probably would have been manslaughter charges. Which are a pain in the ass to beat. And it is a bike. But I hope this sends at least a feeble message to the city's scum community. Also I have a tip: a 26 inch ASP attaches nicely to the frame of ones bike and will EASILY crack a human skull or windshield beyond repair. Give the fans what they want, eh?

People should be able to ride a bicycle and lock it up somewhere without it being stolen by one of our Caribbean friends.

I live in the HEART of the Caribbean community (East Flatbush) and have left my bike unattended outside of stores on many occasions without it being stolen. The streets are awash with bikes outside of every establishment here, sometimes in threes or fours. Gosh, isn't it funny how I never see any incidents of stolen bicycles here where they're lying around in abundance yet have seen several incidents in Manhattan (Union Square bike rack, for example) and non Caribbean areas?

You're a racist bitch and asshole. If your bike's gotten stolen by a Caribbean, GOOD FOR YOU. Maybe your bike gets stolen by "Caribbeans" because asshole outsider that you are, you go traipsing through their communities making a spectacle of yourself with your stupid, pretentious ass $800 "I'm-a-serious-biker" bicycle while everyone's just getting by on their beaters or department store bikes. That's what happens when you don't know how to carry yourself in communities different from the one you grew up in. When in Rome, babe. If you're locking up fancy bikes in working class neighborhoods that rely on cheap bikes to get around, you DESERVE EVERYTHING you have coming to you. Hope there are more stolen bikes in your future.

"...by one of our Caribbean friends."

Did you even see who the thief was you ignorant prick? By the way, I love all your solutions on how to rid the 'scum' from the city -- I'm sure Hitler would be proud.

Did you even see who the thief was you ignorant prick? By the way, I love all your solutions on how to rid the 'scum' from the city -- I'm sure Hitler would be proud.

Don't worry about him. He's a stupid asshole who doesn't know what he's talking about. He may as well be a schizophrenic rambling about being wiretapped by the gov't; that's how much of a lunatic he is.

I live in East Flatbush, a thriving Caribbean community. Hundreds of bikes are parked here on a daily basis without incident. An abandoned bike was locked to a post out here and it literally took almost a week before anyone took the wheel. It's so safe here, I myself have frequently left my bike unlocked and unattended outside of stores while grabbing something.

In fact, my bike has never been more at risk than outside of East Flatbush. I've seen several incidents of thefts in oh, so, "white" Manhattan-- especially the Union Square bike rack. So Mr. Moron can go fuck himself.