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Faith in Humanity Restored

by pakennedy
Tue, Apr 01, 2014 23:10
3

This morning I headed out to my local village centre and locked my bike up as usual given that bike thefts are up in the area.

I got back and found a lady standing over the bike that was now lying down but still attached to the stands by 2 of the 3 locks and a police officer approaching.

Having had 3 bikes stolen in 20 something years (1 recovered) and given warnings I had used the usual multiple locks and taken off everything nickable.

The lady and her husband had spotted a young guy using a bottle jack on my d-lock and challenged him (yes, someone stopped and noticed!)

He bolted at speed and the husband took up chase in his car. A rusty Transit type van took off at tbikerelease. My chain and heavy duty padlock untouched.
a couple
In the van...

3 bikes from the stand and 3 from an unknown spot presumed local.. and the kid who was trying to steal my bike. 3 different sets of bolt croppers and a couple of bottle jacks.

Van is registered to a traveller community half way across the county and so are the occupants. They are denying everthing. CCTV is aimed at the bike stand and *got* everything.

Between me being a bit paranoid and using 4 locks and some nice people being public spirited I still have a bike and some thieves are going to face a judge.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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3 comments

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pakennedy | 10 years ago
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The people trying to steal bikes in Leicestershire aren't *traditional* gipsies in any way shape or form. They are a new type of traveller and are a nasty bunch of ********'s. I've heard tales of them running cyclists off the road deliberately (Only heard, no evidence). Turning up in my end of the county was a surprise. Taking on a bike that was *so* locked up was also surprising. You'd expect they'd skip on to the next one. It isn't like I ride an expensive bike and bolt croppers would have had a bit of a problem on the chain... it came to me courtesy of the navy.

The D-lock took the fire brigade half an hour to get through. I'm saving up for a replacement!

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dreamlx10 | 10 years ago
0 likes

Ah but they are a from a different "culture", and we should respect and embrace all of these different "cultures". Even when they are stealing from you, which they are not doing because it's wrong, it's just their "culture".

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davidtcycle | 10 years ago
0 likes

Which is where the system breaks down

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