Robbery in progress? What would you do?

[kookmyers]

I have to apologize for my inaction but it took me a moment to process and then i didnt know what i would do. What would you have done?

I was riding to work this AM (645ish). I was on Moraga Ave in Clairemont/Bay Ho, San Diego. I looked to my left and saw a guy on a cross street riding a bike while hand towing another. No helmet. Normal looking clothes. after getting the feeling that something wasnt right, i looked back and saw he was on a nice looking Giant (brand) bike that may have been an ebike. The downtube was large. He crossed Moraga and that was that. If i had turned around and caught him, what would i say? what would i do?
If you live in the area and lost your Giant bike this AM, reach out to me. I have a front and rear camera and while i doubt you would be able to ID the guy from the footage, it may be a start.

An important note: I didnt see a crime being committed. The key piece of information that i am basing this whole thing on was the fact that he had 2 bikes and was riding one while using one hand on the handlebar of another to bring it along.

[nooneline]

Ghostriding a bike is a great way to get a bike to another place and not have to walk home. I don't think you have any reason to think that this guy stole the bike.

[bart998]

I did this for 15 miles once when my buddy crashed and took an ambulance ride... I took his bike home.

[monkeybanana86]

The other guys bring up a good point. I could have looked like this a guy a few times after building or picking up a new bike up at a friend's place. I get wanting to make sure your neighborhood is safe so maybe say what's up and a get a feel for the situation if he's in a hurry or sketchy seeming.

[JasonF]

I have a lot of "shooting buddies" who are in law enforcement: from SWAT all the way to prosecutors and they generally say the same thing: if you see a crime being committed by all means call 911 and provide as detailed a description as you can of the suspects, location, etc...but do not intervene, especially if it's "only" a property crime.

[kookmyers]

I did this for 15 miles once when my buddy crashed and took an ambulance ride... I took his bike home.

15 miles?! that has to take a lot of skill.


I hope you all are right. I tend to look at things with glass half empty mentality.

[seanile]

i've done this so many times. either while i'm moving apartments, meeting up with a friend who doesn't ride who needs wheels for our plans that day, retrieving a bike i locked up the night before and found a different way home, or returning a bike to a friend that i fixed for them.
would definitely not assume they stole it, especially if it had both wheels and no lock still locked around any tubes.

[Ken Robb]

Hey Kook, Are you the guy who was riding a Serotta south on Gilman at I-5 a couple of weeks ago when I complimented your bike from my car?

[kookmyers]

Hey Kook, Are you the guy who was riding a Serotta south on Gilman at I-5 a couple of weeks ago when I complimented your bike from my car?

No sir. I'm on a Holland. But I was struggling to catch someone last week that turned off my path before i got to him. I think it was a Serrota, so i wonder if it was the same guy?

[dddd]

In London, there are mostly motorcycle thieves who use a pair of guys to abscond with bikes by one rider pushing the stolen bike (with accomplice aboard) with his foot. Lots of these brazen thefts are on YouTube showing passers-by doing nothing, even as a lengthy process of angle-grinding a heavy lock takes place first.

I've ghost ridden bicycles home from so many thrift shops and garage sales as to have lost count, but it's in the hundreds. My record was 18 hilly miles, after I abandoned a training ride to snag a nice mountainbike being sold at an affluent area's neighborhood garage sale. I had to switch bikes for one very steep long hill, using the MTB's lower gearing to get all the way up (the MTB was stuck in the smallest ring, and my left hand was devoted to steering either bike by the stem).

It is a dangerous practice. I've tossed a couple of bikes when hidden bumps got the "towed" bike to dancing. And I gnashed and crashed a pair of MTB's, one of which I was donating to a less-fortunate fellow employee at work.

One must watch their speed when doing this, like I said it's the speed and hidden bumps that can put the "slave" bike into a dance.
Also the handlebars must be kept from touching at all times.
Climbing hills can be as hard as any race, and I've been cheered over the top of climbs by standers-by (most recently by a police officer who was attending to a pair of transient panhandlers).
I also receive many intentionally humorous taunts from those accusing me of stealing the bike as I pass our local taverns and pubs.

I guess I could say that I have gotten good at this.

[cmg]

you didn't see a crime, so why treat it as one? did you check news reports to see if any bike theft had been reported?

[MattTuck]

nevermind. Misread "news report" as news paper. my bad.

[oldpotatoe]

I’m a big fan or ‘see something, say something’. Get info, call police.

[raygunner]

Ghostriding a bike is a great way to get a bike to another place and not have to walk home. I don't think you have any reason to think that this guy stole the bike.

I did this with a tandem, while riding a tandem.

Some close calls but I made it home.

[rePhil]

Be a good witness.

[Mikej]

I'd mind my own beeswax - that is why you get insurance. next thing you know your name and address are on a police report that the defendant has access to.

[Peter P.]

"If you see something, say something."

You don't have to be sure you're witnessing a crime. You just have to see something suspicious, which is what this is.

You don't have to stop the suspect. You could follow from a distance if you feel comfortable. Otherwise, don't.

But certainly don't hesitate to call it in to the police if you have the means. Even better; take a photo if you have a smartphone and it won't endanger you.

We are the eyes and ears of the police.

This reminds me of the time I was on a bike ride and witnessed a pickup truck driving toward me, with someone riding in the bed of the truck, along with a number of trash bags. I WAS SUSPICIOUS. It was a suburban wooded road where I've seen tossed trash before. I memorized the license plate.

So I turned around and rode in their direction with no possibility or intention of catching them, but just curious to see if I'd find a new pile of trash bags on the road.

Sure enough, here they come toward me again but this time the bed of the truck is empty. I had my work phone with me so I called the local police (tip: always have the phone numbers of the local police departments stored in your phone if you have one). An officer met me on the road and I gave him the details.

They found the truck, matched it to the trash bags, and discovered the plates on the truck were fraudulent. Cops called me to tell me so. BUSTED!

I didn't mind my own beeswax; I got involved.