Stolen Bike

[JJDT]

This will be a rant and rave in one but two different aspects to the heading.

 

Let me start with the rave first:

Friday morning received a call from a person Evan regarding a MTB that was reported stolen.

https://www.bikehub.co.za/stolenbikes/71-specialized-carve-comp-2013/

 

With my hearing loss and difficulty with hearing initially I thought this guy was phoning regarding the specialized MTB shoes for sale. After listening closely again Evan said he was calling me about the stolen MTB that I listed as stolen on Bikehub. He came here did a search and found my post and called me saying that he has the bike that matches the description of my stolen bike. Got the details from him and he is working at Cycle Zone Rosebank. To make a long story short: a dude approached him at the shop and asked him if he could look for a buyer for his bike and did not really asked what made him look at the Bikehub's stolen section.

 

So here it goes Evan thank you very much for everything you have done, taking the initiative to come here to verify your suspicion. Evan from Cycle Zone Rosebank big up to you, honesty goes a long way.

 

Now for the rant:

Now that I have Identified the bike that it is a 100% match to my stolen bike we were unsure on what to do next. We both agreed that we would approach the SAPS seeing that I have reported the bike stolen and do have a case number. Went to Rosebank SAPS where I spoke to one of the constables informing him of everything. He initially said we must go back to the shop and phone the police, few seconds later he said we need not to call but go back to the shop he will send someone there.

Went back to the shop and a few minutes later two constables arrived. I told then what happened and then these two policemen debated on what to do next, both of a different opinion. Eventually they said we must go back to the station in order to find out the correct procedure. Again back to the police station where another debate started on what to do between the 2 constables and a W/O. It was decided that the bike need to come to the police station where it will be booked in. So the bike was fetched and booked into their system. I wrote an affidavit describing the complete event and I was informed that I need to go to Krugersdorp SAPS asking for the investigating officer of the case and inform the person about the event and that they need to fetch the bike and then eventually return it to me. So after 2+ hours I'm on my way to Krugersdorp SAPS.

Arrived there and eventually found the investigating officer informing her the complete details. I was then told this is not how the system works and must return to Rosebank as they "found" the stolen item and they should return the item after some paperwork etc. Gave me her contact details and told me that if I do have a problem they could contact her.

I was not a happy camper by then and returning to Rosebank again was not on the cards on a Friday afternoon 15H30. I was furious and headed home very irritated.

Fast forward to this morning took the road again to Rosebank. Another debate that KDP is responsible for everything they decided to call the investigation officer and she should make the call whether the item can be returned or not. She said that she will get the case documents etc. and get back to the guys at Rosebank SAPS. She called them back and gave green light, but some or other commanding officer at Rosebank should made the final call. The call was eventually made and after the paperwork got my bike, this was about after another 45minutes.

 

This is just something small and it seems that everybody is not on the same page within the SAPS regarding some procedures. If possible I will try my utmost best to avoid the situation where I need to visit the SAPS again.

 

 

 

[Tubehunter]

Lekka that you got the bike back!

 

Good job Evan! (Wow, you get decent Evan's too!)

[nonky]

Well done, EVAN!

Well done, CYCLEZONE!

[Sepia]

Hear more stories like this every day.  Seem to be  an increase in cops who do not care a stuff anymore.

My sympathies.  I would have shot somebody by that stage.  Good that you trying to do the right thing.

Maybe a bribe would have been in order?  After all, it is the african way.

[shaper]

So nothing happened to the guy who brought the bike into sell??

 

The shop should have at least advised him that they had sold the bike and that he needed to do some paperwork for the money to be released.... then the cops could have taken him away for questioning

[madmarc]

I experienced this a lot, we came across many stolen pieces of equipment when they were brought in for service. Initially we contacted the previous owner and handed the equipment back to them. However this is actually illegal, we actually got sued for doing this as the guy bringing in the equipment is was not the person who stole it. he had legitimate papers to say he bought it 2nd hand and hence could prove ownership. The only people who are allowed to remove the item is him or the police.

 

So the correct procedure is to call the investigating officer direct (don't involve any other police station as this will complicate matters), they come and fetch the stolen item and contact the person who brought it in and tell him it's been confiscated as stolen property, he has to make a statement as to where how and when he bought it to help with the investigation. In most cases the perps are never tracked down and eventually the stolen items are returned to the original owner. this could take up to 6 monthe though.

 

A better but illegal way is to call in the guy who brought in the item and tell him it's stolen and you need to call the police - normallly you never hear from them again and then give it back to the original owner -

[MaxTBehrens]

My experience was less successful. A fellow hubber contacted me about a stolen Giant, and confirmed it as mine. Long story short, the bike was at a cash converters. I went to the station at 7:30 about, and started retelling my story (I have an open case) and trying to get them to do something. The SAPS went with me, after a huge fuss and a long wait, to go look at the bike. This was about 8:45. I was told that I may not contact anyone in any way during our visit. The officer then told me that I should be prepared to buy back the bike if I wanted it back...

 

Arriving at cash converters, (10:15) the officers proceeded to haggle the price of a tv set and couch. After getting them back on topic, the cash converters denied having such a bike, even though I had photographic evidence. The police declared all evidence I gave them as forged or false, and continued to shop around. After 30 minutes they proceeded to go pick up their brother who was 20 minutes away. We waited for his brother for about a to hours. The long drive back got me back at the station at 2:45 and absolutely no results.

[JJDT]

Shaper this was the suggestion from one of the cops to get the guy there. The plan was that Evan will call the guy and say that he do have a potential buyer but we need to discuss the price. When the guy arrives the cops would've stepped in.

 

The guy in possession of the bike of the person who stole the bike knew something about bikes because the serial no at the bottom was grinded off. Doubt that a "normal" (person who do not know bikes very well) would've known that the serial no was on the bottom of the frame. The serial no was removed recently because the metal is still shiny, if the number was removed just after the bike was stolen the metal would be dull and will show signs of rust.