Video: To Catch A Bicycle Thief

The alleged thief in police custody jayson elliot

If you suspected that a stranger had just stolen a bicycle from a store, would you confront the perpetrator? One eagle-eyed Manhattan man gathered all the knowledge he had accumulated in his life from Hardy Boys books, and did just that: he spotted, followed, and helped police catch a bicycle thief yesterday, all the while documenting his adventures in amateur sleuthing with pictures and a video on his blog.

Jayson Elliot first spotted the man pushing a brand new Giant TCR ("$3,000+ carbon fiber road bike"), he assumed from the nearby Metro Bicycle on Varick Street. It didn’t have pedals on the cranks yet, and the price tags were still dangling from the frame—therefore he thought it was "in the condition that the bike would be displayed on the rack, not the condition it would be if you bought it and were taking it home." With the guy acting strangely—half-walking and half-running)—Elliot began to think the bike might be stolen, and "decided to just walk behind him for a bit and see where he went." And he took the video below while doing so:

He called Metro Bicycles to see if anything had been stolen: "The guy on the phone shouted “oh, fuck!” and dropped the receiver." When he called back, the employee confirmed that a bike had just been stolen. After that employee caught up with Elliot, they followed him more from Soho into the East Village, up Bowery and past St. Mark’s. After the man went into a secondhand clothing store at 10th Street, they were able to track down a policeman, who quickly caught the thief: "Just like every episode of COPS, the perp (I’m using COPS talk now hell yeah) kept saying 'why are you arresting me?' and 'can you tell me what I did?"

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By Ben Yakas in News on November 12, 2011 5:18 PM

Comments [rss]

jayson

Thanks, guys! What a cool surprise to see my story featured on Gothamist!

TheDoctorWhoCuresCancer

Don't you just love a happy ending!

Mr Mel

The part about the NYPD not responding to the call is par for that course. He should have told 911 that a guy beat up a cop and took his bike. That may have brought a response.

jayson

Actually, they responded really well. Since I was following the guy all over the place, I couldn't give them a location to meet me, so flagging down a cop was the best option.

As soon as the cop got him, about four cars arrived, literally within a minute, and the cops asked me if I was the one who called 911. They said they'd been driving all around the neighborhood watching for the thief.

Detex

Awesome!

Blogarithm

I'm glad they also arrested the man who bought the bike off him. Even if he isn't charged, I think emphasizing the point that there is risk in buying stolen goods will create less of a market for stolen bikes.

Detex

This is true but what IF you were to buy something and have no knowledge that it was stolen? I have bought a bunch of great stuff off Craigs List, What if it turns out something was stolen? Is that my problem if I had no prior knowledge?

jayson

In this case, the price tag was still on the bike. I was about ten feet away, watching the guy look at the bike and the $3,049 price tag, then hand a few twenties to the other guy and take it inside.

Blogarithm

It's not your problem from a criminal perspective if you had no knowledge, and nothing indicates that you should have known. Someone who offers you something way too good to be true and you "knew or should have known" that it was stolen and you could get in trouble, though unless it was a large amount, I don't feel like they'd press charges because they'd have to prove that you should have realized it, and unless it's a product you deal with professionally, they'd have a tough time doing it (example: you work in a bike shop and you buy a $3000 bike for $100 brand new. You would know that price is outrageous and you would be held responsible).

However, no matter what, if goods turn out to be stolen, you lose them with no guarantee of getting your money back. Hence the phrase "Caveat Emptor" or buyer beware. So the guy who bought this bike won't see his cash again unless the thief is nice enough to give a refund.

Rayski_LaRue

if only Mike McQueary were this adventurous...

Guest

I betcha those Ecuadorans weren't willing to pay more than $20 for the bike regardless.....

swampyankeesmom

oh my bad, i just looked at your facebook page. you're just a racist asshole. i thought maybe there was more to this but most of your comments are race related.