so glad it ended well john.  it sucks that the thieves get away with this.
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"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 
>
>
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