Some thieves are so bloody brazen. They attempted to take my QR Caliente (no, it’s not a cervelo, but for a grad student it’s my pride and joy) AND, get this, my $50
bike that I bought as a commuter bike with stickers all over it. Oh, they also took a helmet. At least they were safety oriented thieves.
Luckily, my BF got it back, but damn some people are assholes.
Unfortunately we didn’t recover 2 GPS’s that were stolen from his car.
We live in an Apt and they broke in the side doors and then through the internal door to get into the garage. Nothing we could have done, but man, what a freakin’ piss off. If we hadn’t looked out the window, I’d be short a ride to school tomorrow and a race bike.
Well, the unfortunate irony of all this is that I was the one that posted about a year ago about how the apt I had just moved into didn’t allow bikes. They expected us to keep race bikes in the locked, common bike room with all the other commuter bikes. Yeah right. So I fought them on it and they bumped our name to the top of the wait list for a garage so it would be locked and we’d be the only ones with access to it.
And everyone wondered when I refused to store it down there for the first few weeks (leading to some disagreements with the bf). Guess I was right on this one. The QR is now safely part of our dining room art.
Zero. Nada. Zilch.
They had stashed my stuff in a pile ready for someone to pick it up I assume (they were on foot with no car) and when my BF approached calmly to ask what they were doing, they took off.
He didn’t chase them down since he had what he wanted back ( my bike) and you never know what people will do…
The police came to do a report, but these guys are likely getting off scot-free, which really is bad news because in addition to stealing things, they also broke INTO the actual apartment building and accessed our garage through a locked door from inside,not the big outside door. They could break in anywhere at this rate.
Unfortunately, we discovered my bf’s Oakley’s and GPS were both taken from his car.
Sorry to hear your bf lost stuff and people were inside your apartment. At least neither of you were hurt. Consider your 2’nd amendment right and buy some home protection before our wonderful president tries to prevent it. Hopefully there never will be a next time, but if there is a next time they may come after you, rather than your stuff.
I know the feeling. Last August, my Tarmac Pro w/ powertap was stolen from my grilfriend’s garage AS I WAS BACKING OUT. I was leaving for work, and the guy ran in there and grabbed it. I was so surprised that I let off the clutch and killed my engine. I chased the guy on foot. I tried tackling him, but he dodged me and I just knocked him off balance. He kept going and I chased him down the road through some neighborhoods. Police caught him with my description, but he’d already ditched the bike. Renter’s insurance covered and the guy is just now going to trial.
…my commuter bike that lives in the garage (Soma), I nailed a very long steel strap over the face of a wall stud, then drilled a large hole through the stud. My commuter, even in my locked, quiet garage, gets locked with a beefy cable lock through the hole in the stud. The steel strap prevents anyone from simply cutting through the stud.
My Ex Wife used to ask me why we had to have my bikes hung from the wall in the living room, I stated that they were the most exspensive things we owned and would not be kept outside on the porch in the elements. Still have the bikes, notice the wife is now a EX, she could never understand why I exercised since I was going to die one day anyways. Her idea of recreation was drinking till she passed out.
I’d have chased their stupid asses down and roughed them up a little…THEN called the cops. I once face-planted a guy running away from a manager in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Turned out he had about 30 DVDs stuffed in his coat. He didn’t figure on a Marine triathlete running after him, I suppose. He had sized up the overweight, out-of-shape manager pretty well, though.
Sorry to hear about your troubles…but glad you at least got your bike back.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people would elect to kill someone over stolen possessions. Dude, they were bikes, GPS’ and maybe some shades. Even if they were running off with a box containing $50k in cash, do you really think that it would be worth killing them over? It’s just stuff - it isn’t like they were threatening your family…
Note that I am not advocating that the thieves get off scot free. Chase them down, reclaim your stolen possessions and use the appropriate means (an acceptable level of force) that you feel is required to safely hold them until the police arrive; if you feel that you have the capacity to do so.
I got 2 bikes stolen when I lived in Australia and one here. I remembered being pissed and thinking I’d gladly punch the f’ers…but I never remember even starting to think ‘I wish I had a gun and shot these jerks’…
I can understand (to some extent) the ‘an eye for an eye’ (I don’t condone it however), but a life for a bike?? Ever thought about anger management therapy?
In the end, the life of a thief is still worth more than a f’in bike (even if it’s a P4).
Yeah, I agree Khai.
The BF just asked them to leave in a non-threatening way, which they did. My bikes were left there, they took off. End of story.
If the police catch them, great. If not, well, that’s life.
I’d never want to cause them harm. Their lives are unfortunately worse off than ours are anyways. Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes.
Not to take this too far off track… but what was the response time of the cops when you called them saying thieves were currently in your garage after your bikes? What would have happened if the thieves had wanted to come into the house to grab more stuff or possibly go after you? What would have happened if they were armed when your bf “confronted” them?
Being properly protected (however you choose) and trained is essential. You will sleep better at night and be better able to defend your life when the situation arises.