Here is a great to-catch-a-bike-thief story. Customer Kiki walked out of the Berkeley Ashby BART station, and she was looking forward to riding her Dutch commuter bike home after a long day at work. The hot dog man, who has watched Customer Kiki lock up her bike and get on BART for years, yelled to her, "He just stole your bike! That guy steals bikes all the time!" and pointed to some guy across the street, who was walking away from the BART with Customer Kiki's bike and another bike.
Customer Kiki, in formal business attire, looked at the bike rack, and suddenly realizing her bike was, in fact, missing, started running after the guy, who was stealing it. While sprinting across the cross-walk, all the while dragging her rolling business laptop case, she spotted a police car, flagged down an officer, and the police officer arrested and hand-cuffed the guy.
When asked why he had taken the bike, the bike thief, an older guy, said, "The key was in the bike lock, and I didn't want anyone to steal it, so I was watching it for her." Yes, like many of us, in a rush to avoid missing the train, Customer Kiki had inadvertently left the key in the bike lock. But, as the police officer reminded the thief, key or no key, it is against the law to take something that doesn't belong to you. The officer reunited Customer Kiki with her beloved Dutch commuter bike and put the wicked bike stealing man in the black and white (with the other stolen bike) and took him down to the station. Game over for the BART bike thief. Score one for bike commuters everywhere.
Bike photo lifted from CleverCycle, the Portland, Oregon store where Customer Kiki originally purchased her Dutch commuter. Bart Logo lifted from BART website. Handcuffs lifted from web. Hot dog photo lifted from Chemistryland site.
