Sons Bicycle stolen, so I went looking for it...

[Duncan]

The wife called me yesterday around 3pm to tell me our youngest had his bike stolen while he was at a friends (my son tells me that he put it in the open garage before he went inside). On my way home from work I decided to stop at a couple of the parks in the area and saw a spray painted bike on the ground next to a few other bikes and about 8 teens (between 14 and 17 would be my guess), so I parked and walked over to verify that was my sons bike then went back to the car and waited in hopes to follow them home and confront his parents. After about 30 minutes I decided it best to call Little Elm PD and have them handle it.

Police officer pulls up as one of the kids starts to ride the stolen bike away, I point the perp out and he cuts him off. After a few seconds of questioning the kid, the officer calls me over and tells me the kid says he found it that way and says I can take it. Now, the kid was clearly in possession of a stolen bicycle but the officer didnt get any of the kids information. Maybe I was expecting too much?

[5.0Thunder]

ahh, I've had 2 stolen from me. It sucks but you're probably your sons hero.

[GeorgeG.]

Maybe not expecting too much but probably better this way. Hopefully this one incident was enough to scare the kid straight. Sometimes there isn't any reason for a criminal record to follow you around for ever for something as petty as a bike.

I'm sure we've all had lapses in judgment, especially in our teens (I know I have), that if we had to keep being reminded of a criminal record (on job applications for example) that could do far more harm than good for that individual.

I would just take the hero status and move on.

[roliath]

be thankful you got it back, that's what you wanted in the first place i'm sure.

[DON SVO]

The dumb ass that stole my bike when I was 14 stole it off the porch in front of my friend's house. I saw him pick it up and bolted through the front door after him and his friends. They had a good head start on me, and the dumb ass that took it was obviously pedaling his tail off. However, my friend's sister saw them also. She goes to school with all 3.

The police went to his house the next morning while he was at school. His mom pulled FIVE confirmed stolen bikes out of the garage before she got to mine. The Officer said he ran all the ID numbers (there were a dozen bikes total!) but the ID numbers on the rest weren't ever reported stolen.

The officer pulled his friends out of class and questioned them. They both sold the thief out immediately. I got great joy in hearing that he was arrested in the hallway in front of everyone. My bike was worth $1,200 at the time (I raced BMX and that shit ain't cheap) plus the value of the other bikes and, since he was 17, he was charged with felony theft/possession of stolen goods.

Hopefully that little scare straightened the kid out. In my case, the cop said some of the bikes had been stolen for over a year. He was also pretty sure that all 12-13 of them were actually stolen (his mom said she never paid for any of the bikes) but a ton of folks don't report the ID numbers. Good deal on getting his bike back and the thief being a moron!

[Shaggin Wagon]

Has the kid ever heard of masking off, geesh....

[Skidmark]

Shitty situation that there was no punishment.

I'm sure your son would appreciate some father/son time by tearing down the bike, repainting it etc.

[GeorgeG.]

Shitty situation that there was no punishment.

I'm sure your son would appreciate some father/son time by tearing down the bike, repainting it etc.

that'll strip off fairly easy without damaging the original paint.

I can't tell you how many times we, as kids, would tear our bikes down, strip and repaint them.

[Sean88gt]

Has the kid ever heard of masking off, geesh....

No shit! "Dey won't look fer white tires!"

[line-em-up]

The dumb ass that stole my bike when I was 14 stole it off the porch in front of my friend's house. I saw him pick it up and bolted through the front door after him and his friends. They had a good head start on me, and the dumb ass that took it was obviously pedaling his tail off. However, my friend's sister saw them also. She goes to school with all 3.

The police went to his house the next morning while he was at school. His mom pulled FIVE confirmed stolen bikes out of the garage before she got to mine. The Officer said he ran all the ID numbers (there were a dozen bikes total!) but the ID numbers on the rest weren't ever reported stolen.

The officer pulled his friends out of class and questioned them. They both sold the thief out immediately. I got great joy in hearing that he was arrested in the hallway in front of everyone. My bike was worth $1,200 at the time (I raced BMX and that shit ain't cheap) plus the value of the other bikes and, since he was 17, he was charged with felony theft/possession of stolen goods.

Hopefully that little scare straightened the kid out. In my case, the cop said some of the bikes had been stolen for over a year. He was also pretty sure that all 12-13 of them were actually stolen (his mom said she never paid for any of the bikes) but a ton of folks don't report the ID numbers. Good deal on getting his bike back and the thief being a moron!

Since it was her house, couldn't they charge her with possession of stolen property?

[talisman]

That's shitty that they fucked it up like that, but at least you got it back. I went nearly a year without a bike after mine got stolen when I was a kid, and it sucked; I rode that fucker all over the place.

[scootro]

you can take that spray paint off with a little hard work and a good paint cleaner

[Duncan]

that'll strip off fairly easy without damaging the original paint.

I can't tell you how many times we, as kids, would tear our bikes down, strip and repaint them.

We started this process yesterday evening, the stickers are ruined but the Black/Green factory paint is okay.

[DON SVO]

Since it was her house, couldn't they charge her with possession of stolen property?

Not sure, really, I am under the impression that the kid that stole it was a gang member and probably had his mother scared to death. I looked him up out of curiosity 5-6 years ago and he had a pretty lengthy record, so I am guessing he didn't change his ways too much.

[ceyko]

The only thing extra I think would've been good, was for the cop to drive the kid home and explain the story to his parents. Assuming the parents are worth anything (kids just do stupid stuff) - that's where the scared straight part will come.

As of now, I'm guessing that kid is scoping his next bike since law enforcement is a joke in his eyes.