Video: Bike Thief Gets Beatdown

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.

I'm sure he had some spanish in his family. America's tolerance and coddling of garbage is it's damning weakness.

I'm sure he had some spanish in his family. America's tolerance and coddling of garbage is it's damning weakness.

I agree. We do tolerate and coddle garbage. That's why your Stormfront ass is here in this country posting trash and not overseas where you belong.

I have only one thing to say ..... Bro

this is easily the weakest "beatdown" i have ever seen. wow, you pussies ganged up on the dude and barely managed to knock him down and then someone gently "kicked" him once? i'm surprised he's still alive! bike culture is a joke.

i particularly love the post that accompanied the video: incoherent wigger shit talking about the weakest beatdown ever captured on film.

"You like stealing bikes?"

"Don't steal bikes."

"You stealing bikes?"

"Said...you want to steal bikes?"

Background vocals: "Don't steal bikes bro"

"You want to steal bikes?"

Background vocals: "Don't steal bikes bro"

"Don't steal bikes, alright"

"Stealing bikes."

Background vocals: "Don't steal bikes bro"

This is pure poetry. Street theater. I think it's a viral meant to drive up interest in some lower east side Hipster fixie-riding band.

what the heck is this? the bike owner sees a thief and instead of confronting him alone like a man he takes time to go inside for help. at least three guys beating one pity thief and he is not even bloodied? these hipsters are pathetic. why did not anyone get arrested? all three hipsters can easily be charged with assault.

If you're so in a rage over some POS trying to steal your wheels (not that the guy didn't deserve a nice "tune-up"), the last thing I would think to do is video it, much less post it. Inadequate beating, bad videographer, hardly enough to scare a thief off robbing tomorrow. You wanna beat, do it right, and leave the video out. Also, PLEASE learn how to right a post. Beat: fail, video:fail, post:fail. Not to mention they were having "brunch"? Real guys don't do brunch. Prob pissed their mimosas got warm after all that fuss.

They should have held him for the cops. Aren't there 3+ of them against 1 of him? They could have easily held him for the cops instead of pretending to be Chuck Norris.

If it were my bike, I would want to beat on him as well, but last time I got into a fight, I broke a knuckle, and it wasn't worth it. In retrospect, I wish I had waited for the cops to show up and mediate.

That said, without seeing anything from before (did the guy try to punch any of them?), it's hard to judge, but I know I would have tried to detain him if possible.

nice midget smuggler jorts...dork

and tight ass black jorts...manly cesar milan looking guy who is beating up a guy with 2 other of his friends...

this video of a light beating is better than a video of no beating at all.

I once witnessed a guy try and steal a bike from outside Teddy's here in Williamsburg. The bike belonged to a guy who had just left a baseball game. He was dining with friends. They all had bats. Anyway, they saw the guy and all of them ran outside holding baseball bats and you WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT! DON'T MESS WITH PEOPLE WITH BASEBALL BATS!

Unfortunately, for those of you who get hard watching people get beat up, they held the guy and called the cops. The cops showed up and arrested him as he begged (and I mean begged) for mercy.

It was difficult to watch.

He wasn't beaten. They didn't take matters into their own hands. The law did its thing. And well.

I refuse to watch that video and I actually find it kind of f*cked up that Gothamist even posts shit like this, but I think what I find even more troubling is the response from the Gothamist commenters.

It is like watching some public MASSturbation.

Cops in Williamsberg show up for this sort of thing? I want to see a video of THAT, because it's pretty unbelievable without the evidence.

Did the law do it's thing well? Was he prosecuted? Or was he out again in 24 hours?

You seem to get the point.

Those guys with the baseball bats in Teddy's are likely Greenpoint or Wburg natives. I know some of them who used to play in one of those local leagues.

Those guys are used to fighting, and don't get their rocks off watching junkies get beat up, like all the tuff guy wannabes on this blog seem to do.

No, what people here are enjoying is watching a bike thief get socked because most likely many of them are cyclists and their bikes are dear to them.

So, every thief should get beat up by a couple of thugs? Is your precious little bike that precious that you can take the law into your own hands?

In Saudi Arabia, they cut thieves hands off. I bet a lot of people on this blog would love to see that on video too. Is that what your're saying? Where do you draw the line?

What about car thieves? Beat them up to? Identity thieves? Perhaps kick them senseless? Credit card thieves should be lynched maybe?

Your logic is so flawed.

Grow up and get real!

some responses to this beating are as puzzling as the other white boy scared of asian guy yelling gibberish U Lock beat down. We know less on that other attack, but white boy from the mid west was scared of scary non white man speaking something other than English.

It's only a matter of time before a new video appears with a glorious beatdown of a schmuck who habitually says, "Bro."

Low lifes. I've had a cheap bike stolen, hub caps stolen. I can only think they're nothing but low lifes.

Glad these guys gave him a "beat down," though, I wouldn't call it much of a beat down, contrary to the tough talk used in his description.

I also like how Alfredo sauce calls his friends to help him instead of rushing the guy himself. Another queer move.

Speaking of pigs, where were they? Oh yea, never around when you need one, but always around when you don't.

that comment was meant to be 'general', not in reply to you. oops!

That beating was light.

Taking the law in your own hands is playing judge and part at the same time, and besides it's illegal.

The thief is a thief, therefore can be arrested for his crimes, this type of justice would bring society to an eye for an eye type of justice...

taliban? no thanks.

if you choose to be powerless and go to other people when you need help so be it - but to call people defending thier own property in line with what...akin taliban....who are no big on bikes in any case...is just silly.

i found your 'they shouldnt have done what they did because....it's illegal!' funny btw.

Still illegal!

When you think you can just go and "punish" people for your own moral codes, in spite of understanding very basic western"due process", and yes, individual rights, your gonna end up with the burning of individuals for not obeying "the ones with the moral high-ground" in spite of their rights. (e.g. Taliban)

The dude is a criminal, tehrefore he should be handled by law enforcement.

You are fkn free to be a vigilante but don't expect others to become so primal!

taliban? come on, you're waaaaay off

So are you saying that these guys should have reprimanded the thief and waited for the lazy Labor Day weekend pigs to show up and file a report? Some other crackhead would've stolen the food off their table, or the restaurant would've just given their table away.

The guy was not beat up badly, and thus it's hard to conclude that the almost bike-less posse overreacted. Demanding that people abide by the rules and file a police report every time something goes wrong is both unfair and absurd (the absurd part being that you think the cops will actually do something about it).

Not to mention the fact that following through on a criminal case would require them to testify in front of a grand jury. This is an expensive city and when you think about the BS it requires to follow through on the police and legal front, it's nice to see a little vigilantism when the circumstances surrounding an incident are so obviously in favor of letting this playing out a la minute.

For what it's worth, the "lazy Labor Day weekend pigs" showed up and were nothing but pleasant and helpful w/r/t my aforementioned stolen phone. They even offered to drive me around for a while to see if we could find the guy just walking down the street. Every time I have had to deal with guys from the 9th Precinct, I have left actually really impressed with their professionalism.

You know, for what that's worth.

lowlifes, ALL OF THEM

Graphic? They barely landed a good hit. I doubt the guy was any more than shaken.

Good job, bros!

"These two guys are vicious scum, bully boys in spandex tights, tough guys beating up an old helpless junkie who clearly didn't want to fight."

Nothing about that guy says junkie, from his build and appearance to the tools he was using. Junkies take unlocked shit that they can sell quickly on the sidewalk for a few bucks, they don't use cordless drills to take high-end bikes that will take time and effort to turn around.

He is a complete junkie-missing teeth, gray, greasy skin, those clothes. Junkies will go to any length to get money for their fix–including using power tools to rip off someone's bike...

from what's on the video, they just smacked him up a bit. From what we can see, they were totally in control. An urban adult spanking if you will. I bet if you asked the fiend what he prefers, a light smack down, or being arrested, he go smack down every time.

Good thing the thief wasn't black. Those guys would be crucified.

what no blood? no broken teeth? just a kick in the pants and a push or two does not constitute a beat down.

did the guy say it's his "work bike"? then that beating was not enough. the three guys should have taken turns.

good. i'm sick of people not taking action against crap like this.

That dirtbag took half a beating and almost looked bemused. The message here is: try stealing a bike and almost get hurt.

God, junkies can be so pathetic. Always going around doing bad a*s shit to innocent people and then when confronted they cower like babies.

I love it!

he's wearing those junkie pants.

did they take his tools of the trade away from him?

I'm glad this year's summer streets helmets don't look like those. they're decent this year.

this is like the old days when someone comes into your neighborhood, mugs a lil old lady and get's a beatdown, only difference is there's not an elder or leader saying "that's enough, let him go".

I was at work in Soho a couple years ago when a coworker told me some guy was outside messing with my bike. I came out the door to find some guy with my rear wheel in hand about to walk away!

I grabbed him by the neck with one hand and the wheel in the other. The guy was really apologetic and actually looked pretty pathetic; he was at least 10 years older than I, working as a courier when his wheel broke. I told him I was satisfied to have my wheel back and that he should beat it before anything else happened, but he insisted on putting the wheel back on.

Well, while he's doing this some cops walk by on their beat and give him some shit for a minute while he puts the wheel back. All's well that ends well, I got my wheel back and that guy had a pretty humiliating afternoon that should dissuade him from future klepto pursuits.

right on!! i'm all for vigilantism

I caught a bike thief once, tackled him as he was riding past me, away from the owner.

I held him till the cops came. Like this guy, he was a pathetic junkie. There was no need to beat him. No one in the crowd beat him either.

These two guys are vicious scum, bully boys in spandex tights, tough guys beating up an old helpless junkie who clearly didn't want to fight.

If there is any scumbags in this video, it is the bike owner, not the thief.

If someone steals your wallet, you beat him up?

If someone steals your ipod, you beat him up?

Of course not. No, you hold him and call the cops.

I bet if the junkie was their size or a young ghetto bro' they wouldn't be so tough.

Two ruff, tuff cream puffs, as pathetic as their victim.

Goddamn, now you're on the side of thieves? Unbelievable that someone could be so wrong in every argument.

=v= The anonymous coward who presumes to call her/him/itself "thefacts" is predictably mindlessly hostile about anyone and anything connected to bicycles. Extra mindlessness in the reference to spandex, which nobody is wearing in this video.

And you are on the side of two thug vigilantes who kick someone in the head when they're down?

You are as punk-ass as they are, my little cream puff.

Please waste your money on those. Punk ass.

If someone steals your wallet, you beat him up?
If someone steals your ipod, you beat him up?

And as was said, thieves tend to not squirm as much when you hold them for the cops if they've had their ass whooped first.

Just sayin'.

The answers to your two questions are:

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

Do I then hold him and call the cops? Sure. But it's much easier to hold someone AFTER you've given him a beatdown. Much less wiggly.

If someone steals your wallet, you beat him up?

If someone steals your ipod, you beat him up?

If I catch him, sure.

Point is: Real men don't beat up skinny, defenceless anemic junkies.

They leave that for the bullies, the cowards, and the Walter Mittys of the world.

You watching the same video? The guy isn't skinny, and he was holding a powerdrill. It was you, wasn't it?

No, read my comment. I catch bike thieves but don't beat on guys smaller than myself, like these two punks did.

But for you I got a little present: http://www.defensedevices.com/caltrops.html

Where do you park your bike?

why would you even say that to him about the tire spikes?

That's a "hipster" beat down ...= bravado.

Trying doing that in Brownsville, when they take your bike, car and rims.

Try doing anything in Brownsville and you'll get shot.

honestly? not even a good "beat down".

Hey! I wonder if this is the same guy who stole my cellphone right off of my table at Cafe Pick Me Up on Sunday. Looks pretty similar. It was the craziest thing, he just snatched the thing right out from under my nose and hauled ass down Ave A.

Don't steal cell phones neither, bro.

Reminds me of those gay guys in Seinfeld that stole Kramer's armoire.

Good for you guys, some creeps won't get the hint until they get hit.

I commend you on a job well done

Don't steal bikes brah!

That junkie probably takes two or three of those weak-ass beatings a day. The one day he would've served in jail without dope would've been a much tougher punishment.

Hold him, call the cops.

No sympathy for the thief. He got off easy. But if you're going to steal a bike at least take it immediately out of the neighborhood.

That's a hot ass beatin' bro

More violence-porn for the kids. Curious as to when Gothamist draws the line - if there is a line.

Si, you genius (Posting video of assault on youtube, which is easily traceable to an IP address and specific computer and which clearly shows your easily identifiable tats)- So who exacly is going to sue him and who is going to pay for the ip adress search? And who's going to aresst a guy for stopping his bike being stolen. Wake up- Welcome to the real world. Go back to Ohio. Jackass.

The video doesn't show anything even remotely like a bike being stolen. You have to take the guy's word for it. A civil attorney would have a field day with this. Might even take the case on contingency and would be able to subpoena the relevant information.

As for a criminal investigation, no need to pay for an IP search, the video easily shows probable cause to get a search warrant and preservation order to serve on youtube to find the IP address and to preserve the video as evidence. Next step is to serve a search warrant on the ISP the guy posted from, do a little follow-up investigation and bam you've got your arrest.

I don't think it's too likely the cops would pursue it without the guy who got beat making a complaint but this is a slam dunk criminal case. Easy stats. No video evidence of any bike theft, just a couple guys beating up a guy who is backing away. They say he was stealing a bike, he says he wasn't. Case wouldn't go well for the guys doing the beating.

I didn't hear the audio though so disregard if the guy says "sorry I was trying to steal your bike" or something stupid like that.

All I'm saying is posting videos on the internet of you and your friends committing crimes is dumb.

But yeah the guy got what he deserved.

"A civil attorney would have a field day with this. Might even take the case on contingency and would be able to subpoena the relevant information."

Heh. A civil attorney would only take an assault case on contingency if the target were at the very least known to be a homeowner or someone with enough assets to be worth the trouble and time investment.

These guys have nothing to worry about.

beat him up and ulock him to a pole for the cops

it can be a calling card... like batman

I cannot wait to get home and watch this video.

Do you whack off to it?

I luv it. He got exactly what he deserves. My car was broken into 2X already ... no one should touch other people's property. White trash got his ass whipped!!

I don't know what's harder to stomach, the beatdown, or the failure of communication that is that explanation.

Stay in school, kids. Alternatively, speak English or get out.

is the guy who wrote this dyslexic or retarded or something? Did he send this via 'text message'? Illiterate moron.

Yeah those guys are really tough..anyone who uses the word Bro is a douche...not to mention REALLY smart for posting that on youtube. Most adults stopped riding our little bikes around when we were 15.

Yeah, around age 15 we move onto our big bikes.

Yeah, around age 15 we move onto our big bikes.

Um, anyone who uses the word "douche" is an ass Bro.

And what of people who ride a bike for a living? You have something against making an honest wage?

I cannot wait to get home and watch this video.