so glad it ended well john. it sucks that the thieves get away with this. -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail.
"John Celio" <n...@neovenator.com> wrote: >A happy ending to my stolen bike saga! > >When I reported my bike stolen, the police and others suggested checking out >the local weekly swap meet. This morning, a friend picked me up early and >we headed over there. By mistake we ended up missing the parking lot >turn-off and parked in the swap meet area. By pure luck, we parked two rows >down from a big van that was FULL of bikes, and by even more luck my bike >was one of the two dozen he had pulled out and set up in his stall. > >Now, as I mentioned in the original thread, I had never written down the >serial number of my bike, so I couldn't just go claim it. I called the >police, who showed up and said that if I could identify it as the same one >from the description in my police report, they could probably convince the >seller to turn it over. > >The seller was in no mood to cooperate and was very argumentative with me as >I explained every mark and scratch on the bike. He had stripped off almost >all the accessories I'd put on it, but there were clear distinguishing marks >that I had described on the police report that were still evident. >Eventually one officer pulled him aside, and after a few minutes the officer >came back and told me to take the bike, it was mine. He later told me he >had asked the seller for his business license or tax info, neither of which >he had. When the officer said he would be forced to run a check on all the >serial numbers on all the bikes in his van for stolen property, the seller >quickly said he'd let me take the bike if we'd leave, and that was that! > >I wish I'd been smart and written down the serial number, because then the >seller might actually be facing criminal charges. Who knows how many stolen >bikes he's fenced for thieves? I've resolved to keep a record of every >serial number of every item of value that I have, starting with my bike and >camera equipment, so that the next time this happens I will be better >prepared. Live and learn! > >Thanks for reading, >John > >-- >http://www.jacelio.com >http://www.cafepress.com/jacelio > > >-- >PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >PDML@pdml.net >http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow >the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
