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Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike
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I realize Herbert had an article on the front page, but Sarah tweeted a video link today to a youtube video of the actual theft. In today's day of age, with the ease of retweeting and sharing, I have to think someone will recognize this guy: https://www.youtube.com/...amp;feature=youtu.be


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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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I'm going to repost my comment from the front page article:

Quote:
Assuming the car he was driving wasn't stolen and that it's registered in one of the surrounding counties, the police should be able to narrow down a list of suspects as follows:
-year range of VW Golf (e.g. Mk iii, iv, v...)
-black
-cross reference registration with licenses
-narrow licenses by male
-narrow licenses by height range
-the population of the surrounding area is ~2mil so I'm guessing this will leave you with ~100-200 people which could be narrowed down to probably ~20-40 if you're more certain of his height and he's in the 6'3-6'5" range and not 6'2"-6'4" range. You should be able to use objects in the video to measure his height fairly accurately.
-see how many have listed phone numbers, search craigslist etc. If the number shows up (on almost any listing) you might have your perp. If not, there's a good chance you've further narrowed your list.

It's not full-proof by any means but it's worth a shot. If it doesn't appear the police are doing anything, a private eye/private detective should have the resources necessary to conduct the above search.

Good luck in recovering your baby :)

Honestly, this video gives even more to go on. That's a black, four-door, VW Golf and I'm 95% sure it's a Mk 7(wiki). If she (or anyone) takes a screenshot at 1:39 and goes to a VW dealer, they'll be able to tell you what trim level it is based on those wheels and maybe a few other things. Even in an area like San Francisco and the surrounding municipalities, there will not be that many registrations. Cross reference white male, early 30s to late 40s and that list will grow smaller still. Narrow down by height and you'll be left with 10-20 people tops.

Side tangent... even if you don't employ a private eye/private detective, you could ask your local VW dealer to tell you how many of those exact cars had been sold in the area and there's an outside (admittedly remote) that a salesman might recognize the guy.

Other notes:
-this guy is probably a triathlete. He knew Sarah. Maybe not personally but he'd seen her and her bike in person before as you can see this was very targeted. It wasn't a rando and this guy certainly isn't a "pro" at stealing bikes from the backs of people's cars. The way he stood in the middle of the street and looked around... if people were around he'd draw a lot of attention to himself. I would canvas local tri and bike clubs. This can be done pretty easily via social media. See if anyone recognizes him or his car.
-Notice how the guy went right for the button that auto-closes the trunk. On the right side. It's not on the right side of every vehicle (it's on the left on my Volvo and I think on the left of Mercedes) and... heck... the vast majority of vehicles on the road don't have that feature. He pressed that button instinctively so he's familiar with newer Audis. Possibly a service tech or a salesman.
-the guy left his fingerprints
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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The fact that he has a bike rack on his car is another thing to add to that. I think he recognized the bike and it's value immediately (Pretty sure that's a Thule rack) So add that to the list of narrowing the car owner down.

He looks to be about 6ft which isn't really help - but it does make it obvious that the bike wasn't stolen for his own personal use or something idiotic like that - he's going to sell it. Which, I think bodes well for it's recovery... depending on how patient he is.

I don't think that he's a car tech, because those buttons are on the VW and he would just have to know to look for them - not know exactly where they are there.

I'd agree best place to look for a person in a similar car doing bike related activities in SF.


What do you think he was doing when he backed up to the car after basically having a clear shot straight out (1:50 of the video he reaches out and touches the wheel well, i think, maybe even the door at the very least that's another place to look for prints or... something? Not sure just very odd) Maybe he was looking for more to steal - but he obviously knew what he was looking for and knew he had about 10k in his trunk at that point. Also, it seemed he already had his car seats down so he might have had an inclination that he was getting a bike.

Spit ballin here but thats a lot more information than "my bike's gone, oh no"
Last edited by: Cyronman: Feb 25, 15 23:00
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Cyronman] [ In reply to ]
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Don't want to get anyone's hopes up but I may have a lead....

Notice the roof rails above... and then look at the vehicle in the back lot of Rector Audi below. Right color, right size, distinct roof rails. Dealership is close by and it explains being able to access the vehicle and being familiar with the trunk close button. I'm pretty certain that's a roof rack in the pic below. I just spent 20mins looking at GoogleEarth... because I can't sleep... and those silver lines/bars aren't the outline of a sunroof. I'm pretty certain it's a roof rack.

It's not a very far drive either. Might be worth going down there with a printout of the VW to see if you (Sarah) see the car in the employee/back lot or if anyone in service recognizes it.


Last edited by: GreenPlease: Feb 25, 15 22:23
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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Nice.

Also, it's on the opposite side but the white thing in the dash is still there. Which may or may not be some sort of SF thing that's common but he still has that there. In the screen shot from the video it seems to be paper but it may be something to allow him in and out of the dealership.

I'm not sure of the laws in California, but the other cars on the street have front license plates, but the VW from the video does not. Maybe it has dealer plates and he gets away with not suing a front plate? I may be just running with the theory you've proposed but that's a lot of information in it's favor.

I'd also agree that the lines are a roof rack, and you can clearly see that there is a sunroof between so just another few pieces that add to the distinctiveness of the car.

A few things to check are when is that Google image taken? If it's recent it may still be on the lot and in fact be a salesman at the dealership - if it's older it would probably be an older car. I quick checked the inventory of their lot at it doesn't seem that they have and VW's for sale - But i'm going to keep searching to see if i can find a "SOLD" listing.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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Also to note - That is the location of three different businesses

- Mike harvey Used (Acura and honda it seems)

- New wave paging and com

- Rector motor car co

It doesn't seem that that would be parking for the paging and com - but another lead may be the other dealership.

I checked Rector Audi and Mike Harvey Used and neither of them have and VW's for list right now. So that would lead to it either being sold or an employee car ( if it is the car- can't get hung on that)
Last edited by: Cyronman: Feb 25, 15 22:38
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Cyronman] [ In reply to ]
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wow, great find.

how are we filming and storing our videos of our bikes being stolen?

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Cyronman] [ In reply to ]
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Cyronman wrote:
Nice.

Also, it's on the opposite side but the white thing in the dash is still there. Which may or may not be some sort of SF thing that's common but he still has that there. In the screen shot from the video it seems to be paper but it may be something to allow him in and out of the dealership.

I'm not sure of the laws in California, but the other cars on the street have front license plates, but the VW from the video does not. Maybe it has dealer plates and he gets away with not suing a front plate? I may be just running with the theory you've proposed but that's a lot of information in it's favor.

I'd also agree that the lines are a roof rack, and you can clearly see that there is a sunroof between so just another few pieces that add to the distinctiveness of the car.

A few things to check are when is that Google image taken? If it's recent it may still be on the lot and in fact be a salesman at the dealership - if it's older it would probably be an older car. I quick checked the inventory of their lot at it doesn't seem that they have and VW's for sale - But i'm going to keep searching to see if i can find a "SOLD" listing.

That's a FastPass to go through the bridge tolls.

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Titanflexr] [ In reply to ]
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Usually that is stuck under the rearview, not on the dash.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Cyronman] [ In reply to ]
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Cyronman wrote:
Usually that is stuck under the rearview, not on the dash.

Yes, if you keep it in one car. Lots of people who move it between cars toss it on the dash.

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for posting this in the forum! You can't put things on the front "articles" page and expect anyone to see them. I'll keep an eye out for sure.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Cyronman] [ In reply to ]
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Cyronman wrote:
Also to note - That is the location of three different businesses

- Mike harvey Used (Acura and honda it seems)

- New wave paging and com

- Rector motor car co

It doesn't seem that that would be parking for the paging and com - but another lead may be the other dealership.

I checked Rector Audi and Mike Harvey Used and neither of them have and VW's for list right now. So that would lead to it either being sold or an employee car ( if it is the car- can't get hung on that)

In reference to this I've emailed these dealerships asking about "A car I saw in there a while back" to see if they could give me any information about one with the loose description of the one from the video. We'll see if anything turns up.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Cyronman] [ In reply to ]
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Wow. I hope they find this loser. Are the police actively investigating? It seems like there are more than enough clues to catch this creeper.
Grand theft.
Can this video be posted some place where it gets more views?
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Ty] [ In reply to ]
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Ty wrote:
Wow. I hope they find this loser. Are the police actively investigating? It seems like there are more than enough clues to catch this creeper.
Grand theft.
Can this video be posted some place where it gets more views?

Youtube is a pretty prominent place to place videos. It just needs more discussion. If one of the SF news stations picked this up I am sure that would be enough.


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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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Every STer that reads this post and watches the video needs to share it on their FB wall. The more people that see it the better. You may not be from her area, but the dude may have friends in your area who might try to sell it for him.
Last edited by: Burnt Toast: Feb 26, 15 10:51
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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No front plate, it's either been removed (unlikely, police attention grabber), registered in AZ or NM for the SW/W, or a dealer plate is stuck on the back.

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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Cyronman] [ In reply to ]
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Cyronman wrote:
Nice.

Also, it's on the opposite side but the white thing in the dash is still there. Which may or may not be some sort of SF thing that's common but he still has that there. In the screen shot from the video it seems to be paper but it may be something to allow him in and out of the dealership.

I'm not sure of the laws in California, but the other cars on the street have front license plates, but the VW from the video does not. Maybe it has dealer plates and he gets away with not suing a front plate? I may be just running with the theory you've proposed but that's a lot of information in it's favor.

I'd also agree that the lines are a roof rack, and you can clearly see that there is a sunroof between so just another few pieces that add to the distinctiveness of the car.

A few things to check are when is that Google image taken? If it's recent it may still be on the lot and in fact be a salesman at the dealership - if it's older it would probably be an older car. I quick checked the inventory of their lot at it doesn't seem that they have and VW's for sale - But i'm going to keep searching to see if i can find a "SOLD" listing.

I just checked, the image was dated February 2nd of this year. It's very recent. Also, I'm now 99% sure it's a Mk6 (wiki) as there's a difference in fog lights between the Mk6 and Mk7 (the Mk6 are round whereas the Mk7 the fog lights are almost "hidden" in an air intake). This is really really good news as the Mk6 had an unusually short production run which should further narrow vehicle registrations (manufactured between 2009 and 2011).
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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I checked with Mike Harvey Honda/Acura which is located on the same lot that you linked from google maps - I asked about a black VW with sunroof and asked what type of rack it had on it. They emailed me back with this response -


It sounds like they recognize the car I referenced meaning that that very well could be the place of purchase. If that was a recent google maps shot maybe Sarah can have the police enquire about the car buyer and see if they can link him to the man in the video?

Also - I did email back and ask which model of VW it was just to see if we can get another piece of the puzzle together.
Last edited by: Cyronman: Feb 26, 15 17:17
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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GreenPlease, I am just curious how in the world did you locate this car in the Audi lot? You are quite the detective.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Ty] [ In reply to ]
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Ty wrote:
GreenPlease, I am just curious how in the world did you locate this car in the Audi lot? You are quite the detective.
If the thief gets caught as a result of the sleuthing on this thread...I'd love to see the reaction on his face when the details of evidence gets put in front of him...and that it came from random people on an internet forum.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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GreenPlease wrote:
I'm going to repost my comment from the front page article:

Quote:
Assuming the car he was driving wasn't stolen and that it's registered in one of the surrounding counties, the police should be able to narrow down a list of suspects as follows:
-year range of VW Golf (e.g. Mk iii, iv, v...)
-black
-cross reference registration with licenses
-narrow licenses by male
-narrow licenses by height range
-the population of the surrounding area is ~2mil so I'm guessing this will leave you with ~100-200 people which could be narrowed down to probably ~20-40 if you're more certain of his height and he's in the 6'3-6'5" range and not 6'2"-6'4" range. You should be able to use objects in the video to measure his height fairly accurately.
-see how many have listed phone numbers, search craigslist etc. If the number shows up (on almost any listing) you might have your perp. If not, there's a good chance you've further narrowed your list.

It's not full-proof by any means but it's worth a shot. If it doesn't appear the police are doing anything, a private eye/private detective should have the resources necessary to conduct the above search.

Good luck in recovering your baby :)

Honestly, this video gives even more to go on. That's a black, four-door, VW Golf and I'm 95% sure it's a Mk 7(wiki). If she (or anyone) takes a screenshot at 1:39 and goes to a VW dealer, they'll be able to tell you what trim level it is based on those wheels and maybe a few other things. Even in an area like San Francisco and the surrounding municipalities, there will not be that many registrations. Cross reference white male, early 30s to late 40s and that list will grow smaller still. Narrow down by height and you'll be left with 10-20 people tops.

Side tangent... even if you don't employ a private eye/private detective, you could ask your local VW dealer to tell you how many of those exact cars had been sold in the area and there's an outside (admittedly remote) that a salesman might recognize the guy.

Other notes:
-this guy is probably a triathlete. He knew Sarah. Maybe not personally but he'd seen her and her bike in person before as you can see this was very targeted. It wasn't a rando and this guy certainly isn't a "pro" at stealing bikes from the backs of people's cars. The way he stood in the middle of the street and looked around... if people were around he'd draw a lot of attention to himself. I would canvas local tri and bike clubs. This can be done pretty easily via social media. See if anyone recognizes him or his car.
-Notice how the guy went right for the button that auto-closes the trunk. On the right side. It's not on the right side of every vehicle (it's on the left on my Volvo and I think on the left of Mercedes) and... heck... the vast majority of vehicles on the road don't have that feature. He pressed that button instinctively so he's familiar with newer Audis. Possibly a service tech or a salesman.
-the guy left his fingerprints

I assure you, there are no databases existing that function in this way.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [JayZ] [ In reply to ]
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Re car: i think fog light were only available on the TDI (2.0L diesel). Also, those look like the VW "Porto" wheels, available on the 2010 or 2011, but not a 2012. The TDI was available as an automatic or manual. When the driver reverses, it behaves more like an automatic to my eye. Lastly, the rack looks like the VW factory basebar option.

Summary: 2010 or 2011 VW Golf TDI automatic with factory rack.
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [Ty] [ In reply to ]
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Ty wrote:
GreenPlease, I am just curious how in the world did you locate this car in the Audi lot? You are quite the detective.

We can't be 100% sure that's the car but there's a good chance that's it. Two things stood out to me: he gained access to a locked car and he knew right where the trunk close button was instinctively so there's a good chance he's a salesman or a service technician. I figured I'd check the Audi lots in the surrounding area.

Also, I was stuck in New Orleans, couldn't sleep, and had nothing else to do :p
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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Sarah should go straight to the service manager with a direct approach. Something like: There is a possibility that an employee of your dealership stole my bike out of my q5 - I have reason to believe the car that drove off of the crime scene has been parked in your lot in the past and I have reason to believe the thief is employed by an audi or vag dealership. it will take you 2 minutes to watch the video. Ease watch this and tell me if you know recognize the car or person who did this.

The person had an 315 hertz audi master remote. You cannot just get one of those.

This is simply speculation: He shit a brick when he saw the P5 in the back. He was scouting audi q5s ( again he had the key) not scouting for bikes valuables.

Oh and the vw is a manual transmission.
Last edited by: ajthomas: Feb 26, 15 19:15
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Re: Come'on ST Sleuths, Find Sarah Piampiano's Bike [GreenPlease] [ In reply to ]
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The thief may have stalked Sarah's recent Strava rides to ID her house. Do any of her followers look suspicious?

https://www.strava.com/athletes/1947860

He may have eyed her P5 on instagram (or twitter). So, possibly a follower of hers there too: https://instagram.com/p/zOKQ6qAsvo/?modal=true
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