The Bicycle Thief

[laryu.livejournal.com]

FYI. From a Craigslist post:

"While unlocking my bike in Davis Square around 7:30pm, I watched a man beat a U-lock with a stone brick until he managed to break the lock and free a RALEIGH hybrid bicycle. He then tried to walk off with bike to the park in the square without drawing attention to himself. Myself and others called the police, he was arrested, and the bike was returned to the scene. If you own a Raleigh hybrid style bicycle and you believe it was stolen, please contact the Somerville police. They may have your bike!

"Please keep an eye out for this theif. He 5'11", average build, tan complexion, short brown hair, wearing Celtics hat, black pants, black coat, winter snow boots. He was very drunk and belligerent. One person at the scene said he is a homeless man that is often in Davis Square and has stolen bikes in the past."

Comments

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Figure this link on Lock Strategy from the late, great Sheldon Brown might be useful here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

If your u-lock is properly sized (and used) it's a lot harder to break. Most people's locks are too large and leave too much room for leverage.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Yet another reason for using two locks - one good U-Lock and one good cable lock.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry... "tan complexion"? Why can't anyone in this community say "he was white" or "he was black"?

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

Genetic variety being what it is, it's not always obvious or even applicable.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

If it so happened that it was not obvious in this case, I'll withdraw my complaint about this post and let it stand about the community.

Applicable? How do you figure?

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Please note that I was quoting the craigslist post. It was not my observation that the individual was tan. But feel free to followup with the craigslist community.

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

Even assuming you're accepting racial categories as valid, there are still plenty of people don't fit neatly into them, particularly if you're limiting them to "white or black."

"Tan complexion" is actually a much more specific descriptor than a generic racial category.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Agreed, in general. But when trying to identify someone, "white or black", if applicable, do help.

[kidsmokes.livejournal.com]

yeah, cause everyone is white or black.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i agree with the larger point you're making i think but, it is possible it was a guy who was actually tan in the "getting some sun" sense.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to imply he was necessarily white or black. And he may very well have been "tan". It's just a theme in this community, though granted, this came from craigslist.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

oh no, that's what i meant by agreeing with your larger point.

i think i recall seeing a skit recently and laughing - "funny because it's true" - where a woman is shopping and when she finally goes to purchase her items the person at the register asks if anyone helped her today. she says yes, but totally blanks on the woman's name. the only thing different about this woman compared to all the other female employees was that she was black, but the customer lady keeps skirting it - "she was, um...pretty? kind of thin, average height...she was wearing a blue blazer! [they all are, obv, it's a uniform], etc.

[brewso.livejournal.com]

Speaking of...

Does anyone else here find the perpetual "bikes for sale" house on Wallace Street sketchy? I once asked the guy about one of the bikes, and he mumbled something about previous tenants leaving them behind. And yet, he constantly has new ones out for sale. Am I to believe that he has continuous tenant turnover, and that they all abandon their bikes as they go?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Er, yeah, I think we can safely move beyond sketchy and file that under "criminal enterprise".

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

Sketchy? Perhaps. One story I've heard is that he has some connection with the housekeeping staff at Harvard who use him to fence dispose of abandoned bicycles.

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

Harvard's CP's and MIT's also have auctions for abandoned bikes.

If that's the guy's deal, he could just say "I go to the college police auctions and buy them."

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

You know who that sounds like?

"Spaaaare Change Newsssspaper, Only a Dollar..."

The bicycle thief...the whole story.

[guns-o-brixton.livejournal.com]

I posted the ad/warning on Craigslist last night. I heard about this site from a friend and figure I would post it here too. Glad to see it was already up! Here is the whole story:

Myself and guy named young guy named Anthony gave statements to the police. It was a rather messed up situation, to be honest. The thief beat a U-lock with a stone brick until it broke and then started to carry the bike off. He then fell off the curb and into the bus road flat on his face. As he tried to get a teenage couple came running from park in the square to help him. The thief got up with their help and hurried them off, telling them to "just, take the bike." They separated briefly and then met in the park while they sat on a park bench with the bike in front of them. The police arrived and scared the young couple off bike in tow, leaving the drunken thief. The police cuffed the thief and came back across the street to talk to me. As I was talking to the police, a large man came by with the bicycle, told the police that the bike was back and they should let the thief go. This did not sit well with the police. Then the teenage girl arrived on the scene. She said she was the man's daughter, that he was homeless and that she had just come to the square to bring him some food. They started questioning her and it looked to me that they were going to take everyone to the station. Finally the teenage guy showed up, began staring down myself and Anthony. The police pulled him aside and were chatting with him when I decided to head home.



Anthony said he knew the thief and had seen him around the square. I think he said the man's name was Joe. He mentioned Joe was a homeless guy that hangs around the square quite a bit. He is definitely not the Spare Change newspaper man that hangs in the Davis Square T-stop. He is younger and in better shape physically. I have seen him once before in the square, stumbling drunk. The snow boots were the tip off. This guys was pretty ballsy: stealing a bike in broad daylight, staying in the square afterward, screaming at the police the entire time he was at the scene, making threats, (though they were pretty unintelligible). If see him try the same act again, do not confront him. Just call the police. I don't think he would hesitate in using violence.


To answer the comments the guy was a white male who had tan complexion. The thief has a daughter who is a 5'6", white, with shoulder length brown hair.

Re: The bicycle thief...the whole story.

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

That allegedly homeless guy sounds like a real jerk and waste of space. The Spare change guy is nothing like that.