stolenbicycleregistry.com news

I've superceded these one-off updates with a new blog: blog.stolenbicycleregistry.com

Two major updates in one day:

You can now search bike serial numbers with your cellphone

We've just rolled out the StolenBicycleRegistry.com blog

Here's a press release about these additions going out today.

I've been getting requests to support Canadian bike listings for years now, and I'm happy to announce that I have finally added this in. Simply select your appropriate country when you're listing a stolen bike.

I'm looking forward to providing the same free online bike recovery resources to all the Canadian bikers out there I have heard from, and I am looking forward to seeing some good recoveries from you guys :)

-bhance, 01.19.2008

I have some serious additions coming online in the next two weeks, but I couldn't resist posting this one. Donate $2.50 to the SBR right now and I'll send you one of these slick vinyl stickers! Not only will you be helping supporting the cause, but you'll making your intentions clear to any future would-be bike thieves out there.

Simply click the sticker of your choice, donate, and I'll get the thing in the mail ASAP. (Don't forget to provide a mailing/shipping address!)

Oh snap! Ernesto Londoño with The Washington Post gave me a nice huge plug in "As Web Fuels Bike Thefts, Victims Turn Vigilantes" - which included a direct link to stolenbicycleregistry.com

The resulting tidal wave of web traffic blew me offline for about 20 minutes, but I'm back up now. :) And here I am, running around trying to find somebody in this town that carries the Washington Post so I can get a hard copy.

A man whose bike was stolen found it on an online auction site, reported it to the Sheriff’s Office and triggered a multi-jurisdictional recovery and three arrests...

Man. What is it about tweakers and stealing bikes?

Two men suspected of stealing a trailer load of high-end mountain bikes, worth nearly $50,000, from a Vista bicycle shop were arrested in a raid Thursday.

Sheriff's detectives serving the search warrant on the home also discovered signs of a small methamphetamine lab ...

From China to prevent bike theft through numbering system

Every bike produced in China will have a number engraved on it to deter thieves and help trace it if it is stolen.

All bike manufacturers in China will have to number their products and print the numbers on them from December 1, to prevent rampant bike theft, according to a government circular.

Bicycle manufacturers can begin to apply for codes from October 21. All the codes will be issued for free, the circular said.

Bicycle dealers are required to record the numbers of the bikes and basic information of the customers, which will be handed to local governments, the circular said.

This strikes me as a little over the top, and another reason why RFID is a much better idea ...

Here's a neat story out of Canada:

VANCOUVER - When Aren Hansen had his bike stolen, first he got mad and then he tried to get even.

The result is a documentary short film called White Vans, that Hansen, 29, a film editor, made about the flourishing bike-theft business in Vancouver.

The 13-minute film, showing at the Vancouver Film Festival, documents how prolific bike thieves can be.

At a news conference yesterday at Vancouver police headquarters, his film was shown to highlight what officers every day are up against when trying to collar bike thieves.

In some cases, stolen bikes are sold locally, but many are thrown in cargo vans and taken out of province to be sold off. Some of the bikes are stripped down and the parts are sold.

Thief caught thanks to UNCG student

Last Wednesday Lamont Lee Bonner was arrested and charged with larceny after a UNCG student turned in video footage of Bonner stealing a student bicycle to campus police.

Adam Kennedy, a junior, had his bicycle stolen the night before and was determined to catch the thief.

"I put my webcam in my window, facing the bike racks," said Kennedy. "It caught [Bonner] stealing a bike."

According to Kennedy, campus police responded quickly using dogs to follow Bonner's scent. "They found him across the street in some bushes," said Kennedy.

Mad props to you, Adam Kennedy.

This thread over at mtbr.com is ten thousand kinds of awesome. Allow me to summarize:

06-04-2007: thephat posts: ....(his) orange/red custom Denis Duty 29er single speed was stolen from behind the shop. If you stole it, you should know that you have a very well known and unique bike. A bike that belongs to a well loved member of the Orange County cycling community. It is only a matter of time before somone recognizes it. You should return it imediately.

06-13-2007: donkey posts: Problem solved. I just stole the bike back.

... a bike in a nearby bike rack caught my eye. From 100 feet away I could tell it was Karl's 29er. I was soo freakin giddy I could hardly decide what to do. It was locked up by the front wheel. I undid the front QR and took off running. Threw it on the roof of the car and got the heck outta dodge.

It's been a good week for the SBR - first, the League of American Bicyclists gives the SBR a nice mention in its last mass email, (All thanks to Raleigh, Webmaster of the Bonneville Bicyle Touring Club, who emailed them and got them to notice) - and then Andrea Kelly with the Arizona Daily Star gave the SBR a shout out in her traffic blog, Gridlocked.

Thanks everybody! The more people know about the SBR, the better it works, so I appreciate the publicity!

I've finally put this idea into printed form, and I'd like to share it with you:

There's something intensly personal about getting your bike stolen, something that transcends the simple loss of having a high-dollar item taken against your will. It is, after all, your bike – an object with more soul then all your other beloved gear combined. And yet, stolen bikes are often too small of a problem for police to address, and the public loses an estimated $86 million in stolen bikes every year.

This paper outlines a simple, low-cost solution to bike theft. You've probably even heard its name before - RFID tags.

Just mentioning some nice coverage that bikeportland.org got recently from pezcyclingnews.com

I'm liking the fact that I keep seeing variations of this same story all over the place:

The bicycle was perfect for Danielle to get around the city and protest the recent MBTA fare hikes.

Two weeks later, it was gone, stolen from the lobby of her Mission Hill apartment building after a neighbor’s party. Stevens filed a report with police, but after months of searching found it herself three days ago on craigslist and helped catch the alleged thief in a sting...

When they arrived, Stevens could see her bike chained to a fence. As she and Courtney walked toward it, a young, dark-haired man ... approached them.

Three police cruisers pulled up, and at least 10 officers descended on the man, later identified as Daniel Holzer, 21, a student at Wentworth Institute of Technology.

See, this is why the biking community is awesome ...

It looks like Ed Reid will ride again.

Since the theft of the legally blind man's bike was reported in The Capital Wednesday, a variety of residents and organizations have stepped in to help.

The State's Attorney's Office is willing to use its victim fund to help Mr. Reid buy a new bike. The mother of a legally blind man wants to donate his old bike and another man also wants to buy him a new one.

Doctors had recommended that Mr. Reid travel only by bicycle, since he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that causes the degeneration of cells in the retina. The disease left him with no peripheral vision and he can barely see at night...

Long story short: guy gets bike stolen, finds it listed on Craigslist, enlists 5 friends to help him, and they nail a local thief.

When Dory Van Fleet stepped out of the REI store, the black mountain bike he had locked up on the street was gone. But within days, Van Fleet turned proactive, bolstered by friends' and co-workers' ideas. Soon Van Fleet, 38, and a network of women friends devised a sting operation to get his beloved bike back. While checking Craigslist six days after the theft, he found 10 listings for a Novara Arriba bike, including a posting three hours old asking $200. It matched his bike's description. Van Fleet e-mailed the seller, offering $180, and arranged to meet him on a Portland street corner two days later ...

There's a local bike bandit who may be in possession of more than just your average bicycle. Over the last week, a one-of -a-kind mountain bike with a history of helping cancer patients was stolen from inside a Wichita garage.

The bike was stolen from a group who calls themselves TNT, or "team in training". They're training for a 100-mile bike ride and fundraiser this summer. The Fundraiser will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Kevin O'Connor is a Sedgwick County Deputy District Attorney; he's also a cancer survivor and knows others facing the battle. This year, he was given the honor of riding a mountain bike that's known as the "hero bike". However just this last week, the bike was stolen. Whoever took it is completely unaware of the bike's history.

Almost every stolen bike has emotional and personal value, which again, is why I'm pretty pro-punishment when it comes to bike theives. You steal somebody's bike, and you've got some serious karmic payback headed your way. (And just for the record: If you steal somebody's Leukemia-fundraising "hero" road bike, I hope you die in a fire.)

I hope they get the bike back.

But the guy who stole my bike from outside a Tokyo train station one recent Saturday night wasn't looking for anything flashy. He was drunk - it was payday and he had over-celebrated. He had slept well past his stop and was kicked off the last train of the night at the last station on the line. It was a crime of necessity: Steal the wheels or walk.

I was still contemplating a visit to the impounded bike lot a day later when an officer from a neighboring ward office of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police called me at home. Officer Shinya Yoshioka had recovered my bike and captured the thief.

Yoshioka knew the bike was stolen as soon as he checked the registration number on the little yellow sticker that is slapped on every bike frame sold in Japan. One call to the computer center and Yoshioka knew that I was the bike's owner, knew where I lived, and, for some reason, knew how old I am. He called me at home. When could I pick it up?

He slides two Polaroid pictures across the desk at me. They show the thief standing sheepishly in front of the train station. In both shots, he is pointing to a chain-link fence. It is a feature of Japanese police work that suspects are taken to the scene of their crime to confess their misdeeds.

More than 1,200 pedal bicycles are being stolen every day across the UK, research has revealed. A study by the insurance company Direct Line suggested that about 440,000 bikes are being taken by thieves each year.

Enter the urban underworld of open-air chop shops, steal-to-order thieves, and brazen fencing networks, where San Francisco's most pervasive crime is ignored by the authorities...

Two years and $375,000 worth of straight up theft and this asshat is only getting 90 days in jail. Plus, he's a repeat offender.

The former manager of a Colorado Springs bicycle shop charged with stealing about $375,000 of merchandise and selling most of it on eBay agreed to a plea deal this week.

William Reese Houghton, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to felony theft and is expected to be sentenced in April to 90 days in jail, according to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office. The judge has the final say on his sentence.

Houghton was charged with stealing bicycles, parts and clothing from Pro Cycling from 2003 to 2005, making $147,605 by peddling the goods on eBay, often below retail price, an arrest affidavit states. One bike that retailed for $5,100 sold for $2,555.

The investigation revealed Houghton had stolen $70,025 worth of merchandise from his previous employer, Colorado Cyclist, a mail order business with a retail shop on Bijou Street, and sold them on eBay, authorities said.

So there you have it, folks. Be a repeat, half-assed crook, and steal almost half a million dollars worth of merchandise from your employer and face ... 90 days in jail. I'm hoping fellow bike-rider karma's gonna take care of this one, because the judge certainly hasn't.

University of Toronto Bike Bait program a success

Since the pilot Bike Bait Program was introduced September 29, the university says Toronto Police have laid a number of charges, including four arrests in one day. The Bike Bait program involves placing global positioning system (GPS) beacons on high-end bikes in a number of campus locations. When the bicycle is stolen, the GPS allows police to track the bike and catch the thieves.

There are, in fact, decent people still left in the world. A few days ago another bike owner looked up his own bike on the SBR - and realized it was stolen. And then he contacted me to get it back to the original owner - which he just did.

Joe R writes:

Your site helped facilitate my bike's return after almost 2 months. The guy who looked up your site found it on Montlake Bike Shop's website, which was where I bought my bike. He had bought the bike from his boss - who had bought it at a little pawn shop in Kent. Unfortunately, they don't do receipts or records because they know the stuff they get is stolen so there isn't much we could do. However, when the guy saw this pawn shop, he felt guilty about riding a stolen bike and wanted to do the right thing so he found your site, and then found me.

The bike was stolen from in front of my house at 7 AM when I left it for about 45 seconds to go inside and get my helmet. I was really angry for a while but this helps a lot, even though I had already bought a replacement bike. Thanks for your site - apparently it really works.

"University of Arizona is known for many things....Astronomy department, Basketball team, and you can now add number 2 in the country for stolen property. Bill Vallone....had his expensive bike stolen and was without transportation until he could purchase another bike. "Most of the time the people stealing the bikes don't need them they're doing it to make money off them. I really thinks this sucks. "

The short version is that a friend saw an ad on Craigslist for a bike that looked like mine. I arranged to see it posing as a potential buyer. I had already contacted the police about what to do and was given a phone number to call it if was mine. I called them as soon as I left the guy's house ... The guy didn't know it was stolen and cooperated fully with information about who he bought it from and voluntarily gave me the bike back.

If you're going to include any tips about contacting sellers of potential stolen bikes you should mention not to ask for a serial number. I'm pretty sure we lost out on finding one of the bikes when a friend saw an ad on craigslist and starting e-mailing the person. They exchanged several e-mails, all of which lead us to believe this was one of our bikes, but then she asked him for the serial number and that's the last anyone heard from him.

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that your website helped return a bike to its rightful owner a year after it was stolen. I saw the posting for a stolen Bianchi Axis and recognized it as the bike I bought from someone off Craiglist.

I found your site because my husband's bike was stolen from a parking garage in Seattle. Bike theft in Seattle is a huge problem and the police don't seem to have the resources to investigate cases properly. I wish the police had a website like this to log in every stolen bike serial number and make it accessible to the general public...

Stacy R., thanks for being an awesome person and returning the bike - and Britta, congrats on getting your bike back!

'Officers found 34 bicycles June 9 and an additional dozen June 12 during searches of the St. Paul Park residence. Most were BMX-style mountain bikes, and most appeared to be in good shape.'

Police also found electronic equipment — some of which had been reported stolen — including several laptops, a camera and a 19-inch flat-screen monitor, according to a criminal complaint filed June 12 against Grengs.

Grengs fled the house when police arrived June 9, and officers arrested him in a nearby field. Officers found a loaded AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle, a loaded handgun, ammunition and knives in a pack Grengs was carrying, according to the complaint.

In 2000, Minnesotans reported almost 5,800 stolen. The average value of a stolen bike was $225, making the total loss $1.3 million.

"A 14-year-old papergirl was hailed for her courage after she chased a bicycle thief and forced him to give the bike back. (She) forced him to give back the bicycle - and police then arrested the culprit."

"So I put my bike on your site and in about a week I got an email - from someone who I don't know - that said that he saw the same bike on my profile from your site in some jerk's garage. So I went - and - to my suprise it was my bike. I went up to the kid's home and told his mom that her son stole my bike. She said that he 'found' it. I told her he found it alright - inside my garage - so she let me take the bike. Just wanted to say thanks for everything."

"My I-drive with a Rohloff speedhub was stolen (or actually "picked up" beside the road) by a guy on December 5th, 2005, and I registered it on your site within a week or so. Six weeks later, the guy emailed me and said he had it. I had to drive 600 miles round trip to get it from him, but I got it."

02.22.2006 - 2 from Yonkers arrested after stolen bike seen online
You know the drill. Idiots steal bike. Idiots put bike on Ebay. Owner finds bike on Ebay. Idiots get arrested.

"Two teenagers were arrested by city detectives after an attempt was made to sell a stolen bicycle worth about $6,000 on the Internet and the owner spotted the offering, police said.

Anthony Fideleo of 133 Devoe Ave. and Christopher LaCerra of 89 St. John's Ave., both 19, were charged with third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony."

All I have to say, is, it sure is nice of the paper to publish the home address of these two idiots. :)

Gracias to Dirtmag for giving our WatchList a mention in their 'Fresh Dirt' section.

I'd pay good money to get this on a shirt.

Johnathan's bike blog has a link to what may possibly be the best anti bike-theft rant in the history of all rants, ever. Not safe for work or those offended by strong, pissed-off language. See: Death to bike thieves.

"Prosecution thought Irvine Bruce Rain should get 30 days in jail ... but the judge saw it entirely different.

"Stealing some kid's bicycle," Judge Jim Mitchell said to Rain and shook his head before sentencing the prisoner— who has already been in custody for 10 days — to an additional 45 days in jail for stealing a bicycle ...

So many people have been trying to register their stolen motorcycle with the stolenbicycleregistry that I spun off another site - www.stolenmotorcycleregistry.com

Help spread the word! I've got banners ready to go and everything!

"A search on eBay helped lead police to a suspected bike thief who was allegedly stealing high-end bikes worth thousands of dollars.

Terrance Michael Farrell, 33, is accused of selling 40 high-end bikes worth more than $70,000 to an eBay entrepreneur.

The entrepreneur, Stephen Ellison, then resold them on the auction web site, Boulder police said.

Ellison, who was a teacher at the University of Colorado but quit because of his booming Internet business, told police he didn't know the bikes were stolen, according to the arrest warrant."

Theft of disabled children's customized bikes discovered

"Dozens of disabled kids lost an exhilarating link to freedom -- and a hallmark of childhood -- when thieves stole about 30 of their specially-crafted bicycles from a locked storage room in Berkeley.

The bicycles, which were owned by a Berkeley nonprofit called Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program, were snatched from the north end of Aquatic Park, where the children often rode with their able-bodied families and friends. "

"A Hance Bridge Road resident was charged with reckless driving Sunday after police allege he almost struck a city juvenile upon realizing the 17-year-old male was riding a bike which had been stolen from his son."

See also: 'Super Hot Wheels'.

07.2005 - Hooray to Seattle's Bicyclepaper.com for giving me a mention.

'Police may not show for petty crimes' - via Dallasnews.com

"Dallas police are tossing around the idea that responding to minor calls such as a bicycle stolen off a sidewalk may need to become a thing of the past.

The Police Department is struggling with limited manpower, high crime and slow response times to calls for help. Police officials hope that by not sending officers to investigate some noncritical thefts and lost-property reports they can lower response times for more life-threatening calls, such as murders and rapes.

"We're always exploring ways to reduce response times and to be able to better respond to more important calls," said Sam Johnson, Police Chief David Kunkle's chief of staff. "

	Hi there - great site. I think there should be a forum where people could give tips who to watch out for.

	I caught a guy yesterday, right behind my own door with huge tree cutter pretending to be a gardner. 
	He looked left right and then went straight to my 1 inch chain lock. I put my shoes on quick ran out 
	and beat the ---- out of him. He then got on his bike and left like a jet. 

	

- bhance

If you haven't seen his livewrong.net yet, perhaps you should ...

04.11.2005 - Students Claim Stolen Bikes

"Darin Zumbrunnen reunited with an old friend Saturday morning at a Southside police station.

The pre-architecture freshman didn't bail anyone out, but reclaimed his stolen bicycle, which was recovered by the Tucson Police Department at a midtown house last month. "

04.08.2005 - Sweet Jesus!

"More than 350 stolen bicycles police found at a North Side home may be returned to their owners Saturday. The bicycles - road bikes, mountain bikes, BMX bikes, kids' bikes, antique bikes and even a tricycle and a unicycle - were discovered about two weeks ago, at a house near East Blacklidge Drive and North First Avenue."

04.02.2005 - New animated banner, for distribution online ASAP.

03.26.2005 - I hit the Tucson Bike Swap and passed out about 100 business cards to help promote the site. Met a lot of good people, too, and talked to a bunch of the Save Fantasy Island folks- and got a nice sunburn.

03.17.2005 - My first newspaper ad! Woot! Thanks Tucson Weekly for having free ads for nonprofits!

Here's the code if you want to include it on your site:

<a href="http://www.stolenbicycleregistry.com" target=_new> <img src="http://www.stolenbicycleregistry.com/images/banners/biketheftsucks.jpg" border="0"> </a>

And another: