any advice on avoiding stolen bikes

[rosstheboss]

any advice on avoiding stolen bikes?

Buy new ones from a bike shop!

 

[grover1979]

damn wrong site thought this was a site about older bikes must get off here and immediately buy myself a new bike sorry to have wasted your time all

 

[Neil]

I said something doesn't feel right and pointed out that the receipt you say you had would have easily been able to prove along with the original advert quite quickly that you bought it in good faith and given police a correct direction to follow up with the seller. The fact you claim you were arrested, they took your mobile and computer just to me seems very peculiar

I'm left with much the same feeling, too - maybe we don't have the full story, maybe there's other factors, I don't know - but just because they suspect one thing you're selling as being a bit hot, given that no doubt you could present them a receipt for it, that's at least grounds for them to accept that you may be a victim of this yourself.

Did they come 'round to seize your bike, or arrest you, or both - and wouldn't they have had to have a warrant to seize your laptop or mobile? Or did they suspect they were stolen, too? I'm just not getting why the police were allowed free reign to grab anything they thought may be hookey, or revealling.

Surely if they merely suspected (because the owner had spotted it) that you were selling something that was apparently stolen, what would cause them to think they needed to go further and seize other stuff? Did they seize anything else, other than the one suspect bike, your laptop and your mobile?

And in fairness, to people finding something about this account sounding off - you did post your tale for consumption.

 

[videojetman]

damn wrong site thought this was a site about older bikes must get off here and immediately buy myself a new bike sorry to have wasted your time all

make sure you get a receipt with it.

 

[videojetman]

one way to avoid stolen bikes is to buy off retrobike members with good feedback.

 

[gerryattrick]

A salutary lesson. Sadly, buying & selling used goods of any kind can be risky. My sheds and the area around them include 8 full bikes plus enough frames, wheels etc. to build another 6. If someone did ever accuse me of having a stolen bike then I couldn't really blame the police for being a bit suspicious on looking at all the stuff and finding that I made a bit of money selling them to fund other bike stuff - the same as if I had a shed full of TVs or other electrical goods. I'm sure it wouldn't be pleasant but I hope I could prove I was genuine eventually.

Incidentally, I see many people selling bikes on Gumtree and calling them push bikes - didn't realise that this was a sign that they must be dodgy. My Dad must be a real wrong-un as he's been calling them that all his life and he's 86. :roll:

 

[grover1979]

thanks gerry i think you have hit the nail on the head there i dont think the police took my personal bikes because they thought there was anything dodgy about them but simply because they could and were flexing their muscles the fact i was not handcuffed at any time would tell most they did not see me as a threat and maybe even the arresting officers did not see me as a criminal but had a warrant and therefore a job to do the fact i now have my items back all bar the stolen bike and was not charged with anything speaks for itself in my view as i say how many of you may be riding around on stolen bikes without even knowing about it as i say the police do not publicize stolen item serial numbers ect so the first many will know the true origins of their bike is either they do a random check or when u indeed advertise it for sale
for what its worth i would hope the scumbag that sold it to got what was coming to them i rest my case

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

As part of my job I have to gather evidence which may lead to me prosecuting people. If I were investigating someone who I suspected would take steps to destroy or remove evidence of their crimes from a premises I would go to a court and ask for a warrant to search the premises and remove anything incriminating. I may also ask the police to arrest the suspect and interview them at a police station as it can be recorded properly on tape.
Despite what you see on TV it isn't easy getting a warrant. You have to prove that you have good reason to need to carry out a warranted search, with proper evidence that a more casual approach would not be effective. You can't just turn up to a court and ask for one just on hearsay, cos you won't get it.
So either your activities or online presence or something else must have indicated that it was more than just you innocently buying a bike you didn't know was stolen. The court made a decision on the facts that the police gave them that a warrant was appropriate.
You have been cleared and all items returned. If you knew you were innocent you had nothing to worry about, so unsure why it affected your health.

I am glad the police seem to be taking this sort of crime seriously in your area and glad they took the approach they did. They should be applauded for that.

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

Additionally what's "flexing their muscles"?? If you suspect someone and you need evidence then you take all the possible evidence that might prove guilt from the house while the warrant is in force. If they didn't take them and realised later they were required then that evidence wouldn't be there when they went back if that person was guilty, you can guarantee that.
It's a pain to transport and catalogue and store evidence so generally the rule is to only seize exactly what you need and no more.

 

[grover1979]

whatever their reasons for why i was treated in this manner are still quite unclear to me my health was affected as i went from cycling many miles a day to nothing for the time they had my bike perhaps they did believe there may be more stolen goods on the premises but the fact of the matter is there wasnt so yes they did transport my stuff around for no reason so you are right. i have walked away from many a purchase in the past because something did not feel right about the transaction i am glad the bike went back to its original owner as it should. i have had bikes stolen from myself in the past and understand the upset this causes
i guess this has turned into a bit of a witch hunt why dont i post my address and you can all come and dunk me in the local duck pond or burn me at the stake?