# My stolen Trek - A Brick Lane story



## mocker (29 Jun 2009)

Morning all - im new here, and thought i would share my experience ( without getting too Jerry Springer/Oprah! )

I had my Trek mtb commuter stolen sat night/sunday morning from Hackney - it was securely locked with an expensive D-lock to railings yet still went...unfortunately it wont fit up the stairs to my girls flat

rather than waste my time reporting it to the Police ( A MISTAKE ) i decided to scour Brick Lane...it wasnt too hard to spot the thieves on the corner of Sclater st and Bacon Street, a crew of 6 - 10 "runners" constantly repleneshing stolen stock under the command of a couple of "guvnors" - some VERY unsavoury types that i would not suggest you approach unless youre mob-handed/"physically confident" (im a lover,not a fighter!  )

no sign of bike from 11am until 5pm 

met some mates for food/a pint, had given up hope when my bike appears from the alley leading to pedley street onto Brick lane, between buxton and grimsby street ( the thieves were now hanging out here, directley beneath a CCTV camera...the must be storing the stolen bikes somewhere on pedley street....)

my mate asked them how much they wanted for it and had a chat whilst i dialled 999...there was NO way i was gonna confront them, these were some very nasty looking geezers

2 PCSO's arrived pretty quickly - the thieves casually started to slope off - the guy with my bike started to ride off but i grabbed my bike - he ran off with community cops in pursuit...quickly aprehended...they may get a bad press but i have nothing but praise for their committed swift action

instantly some of his crew gathered and started chucking abuse, looked like it could get nasty but luckily no

CID turned up 5 minutes later - the thief started lying about how he'd just paid £60 for my bike - blatant lies, one of his mates had just tried flogging it to my mate for £140!

NOW this is where things turned interesting...the female CID officer who spoke to me was rude aggressive and un-cooperative from the go, and seemed to be siding with the thief-scum..."why didnt you report the theft, how can your prove its yours?"....i felt like i was in the wrong! 

LUCKILY i had a photo on my phone, clealy showing the distinctive scratches/rear disc brake mount (old style chainstay ) scratched forks etc...eventually she agreed it was mine and let me have it ( the thief asked me to re-imburse him for his £60 "loss"...cheeky fekker! )

AT NO POINT did the CID ask if i would identify "potential" thieves or take a statement....i was at fault for not reporting the theft in the first place...and i was made to feel like i was a burden on their ( her ) time rather than a crime victim...the more i think on it the more angry i feel...its BLATANT down their, AND SO OBVIOUS...ive read elsewhere of an immenent crackdown but it still goes on....WHY?

LESSONS LEARNED?
*ALWAYS REPORT YOUR BIKE STOLEN
*ENSURE YOU HAVE THE FRAME NUMBER
*KEEP SOME PHOTOS OF YOUR BIKE ON YOUR PHONE

at least i got it back, though wont be shopping near Brick Lane for quite a while...


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## dellzeqq (29 Jun 2009)

mocker said:


> NOW this is where things turned interesting...the female CID officer who spoke to me was rude aggressive and un-cooperative from the go, and seemed to be siding with the thief-scum..."why didnt you report the theft, how can your prove its yours?"....i felt like i was in the wrong!
> ...


hhhmmmmm..........


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## mocker (29 Jun 2009)

blimey! 62 views, 1 comment and no welcomes/commiserations!

friendly bunch you lot eh!?


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## GrumpyGregry (29 Jun 2009)

as you'll learn one hhhmmmmm........ from dellzeqq is worth any number of compliments from us mere mortals.

Like most forums there is an element of "due paying" to be done in here but the natives are friendly for the most part once you've been sussed though normally a small group just like to squabble amongst themselves. It was ever thus...

Bad luck it got stolen, not a nice experience, well done on getting it back, Inspector Knacker rarely appreciates getting caught in the middle of a squabble as for all (s)he knows it may just be a falling out amongst theives, but I like the way you handled it even if plod didn't.


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## jeltz (29 Jun 2009)

mocker said:


> LESSONS LEARNED?
> *ALWAYS REPORT YOUR BIKE STOLEN
> *ENSURE YOU HAVE THE FRAME NUMBER
> *KEEP SOME PHOTOS OF YOUR BIKE ON YOUR PHONE



Thanks for that, as a new cyclist I'd never even thought to find my frame number let alone write it down  

Glad you got the bike back, and I reckon most coppers would rather real life was like "Ashes to Ashes" or "The Sweeney" and they were chasing down "real" villains not mucking about with bike thieves! 

A couple of years ago my brother in law had someone drive into his parked car and crack the bumper. A witness noted the number plate down and left it with their contact details on his windscreen offering to give a statement. When he contacted the police they stated they would not do anything until he presented his driving licence, MOT and insurance cert at a Police Station. He was made to feel like he was wasting their time so didn't take it any further. And before anyone asks yes he was insured, MOT'd and Licensed.


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## fossyant (29 Jun 2009)

Blimey - heard of loads of stories of folk getting their bikes back from Brick Lane, but that lot sound nasty.


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## mocker (29 Jun 2009)

aye that they were...part bad urban youth/part rat-faced feral scum

seriously considering making an official complaint, theres no way i wouldve recieved the same treatment if i was a floppy haired plummy voiced chap from Putney....if i can work out who the thieves are/how the crew operate/whos "da guvnor" by simply sitting and watching for a couple of hours why cant Plod? ( i pays me taxes! )

long overdue there was a crackdown...mind, doesnt help when even "proper" cyclists are willing to buy obviously stolen Condor/Litespeed etc frames /bikes down there...


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## CopperBrompton (30 Jun 2009)

That's the problem :-(

If people didn't buy obviously-stolen property, most stuff wouldn't get stolen; it's that simple.


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## Scoosh (30 Jun 2009)

Commiserations  and Congratulations  on getting your bike back 

Bike theft/crime seems to be pretty low on the law-enforcement agencies' list of priorities  One would certainly think/wish that the local police would be a bit more pro-active, now that they know where the tea-leaves hang out. Wouldn't hold my breath tho' .....


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## ed_o_brain (30 Jun 2009)

it pains me that bike theft is not taken seriously. The people I really feel for are those holding down an unsocial job barely scraping enough to pay all their bills. When their bike is their only way of getting to and from said job, it is subsistence transport.

Getting a BMW M5 knicked doesn't cost the owners livelihood.

Glad you got your bike back.


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## skrx (3 Jul 2009)

mocker said:


> theres no way i wouldve recieved the same treatment if i was a floppy haired plummy voiced chap from Putney...



Indeed: http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=667713&postcount=1 (Photo taken in the poshest bit of Putney).

One of the biggest concerns of would-be cyclists is "won't my bike get stolen?". The police doing something about bike theft would really help.


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## ufkacbln (3 Jul 2009)

Subsistence transport?

That is part of the problem... people associate bikes as a poor man's transport, not as the real and valid transport choice for thinking adults.

I had a chat with a colleague about the fact that I pay for secure cycle parking at work - they could not see the point and was appalled that most of us were riding bikes in excess of £1000. Then came the classic -"Why would you spend that much on a bike when you can get a car at that price..."

We need to educate people, and the Police that to many people cycles are as big an investment and loss as a car.


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## grhm (4 Jul 2009)

ed_o_brain said:


> it pains me that bike theft is not taken seriously. The people I really feel for are those holding down an unsocial job barely scraping enough to pay all their bills. When their bike is their only way of getting to and from said job, it is subsistence transport.
> 
> Getting a BMW M5 knicked doesn't cost the owners livelihood.
> 
> Glad you got your bike back.



I'd second Cunobelins sentiments here.

Nicking someone's only means of transport and causing problems with their lively hood is nasty. However, a BMW M5 could be the only means of transport a sales rep has and could be paid for by a loan he can just afford. I'll admit it's not likely example.

However, nicking someones expensive bike is not likely to cost someone their livelihood. F***ing annoying and costly.


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## Tharg2007 (4 Jul 2009)

I'll also second Cunobelins sentiments (is that third?)
When i was dealing with an insurance claim after getting knocked off the guy askem the value of the bike, when i told him in excess of £600 he felt he had to double check I wasnt talking about a motorbike and with distrust in his voice told me that was expensive for a bike, at that point i had to laugh or i would have cried.


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## dav1d (5 Jul 2009)

Around ten years ago or so, me and two of my brothers were cycling through Longsight. A local taxi driver got two of his mates to help him rob our bikes. They were bigger than us and very threatening. 

One of my brothers ran away to try to find a police van/car. Luckily he found one instantly and they came to the scene of the crime.

The taxi driver made up some story: said he'd had one of the bikes stolen, the one with the lock around the frame. The reason there was a lock around the frame was because my brother didn't have anywhere else to put it. 

So my brother proved it was his lock by unlocking it with the key in his pocket (besides, they had no false story for the other two bikes), but before he did that, the police were willing to let the bike thieves keep the bikes even though their story was clearly nonsense. The copper was very rude and threatened to arrest my brother because he wanted to tell them his story and they basically didn't listen, they were more interested in the crooks story. They even threatened to hit him, which I pointed out was illegal.

Imagine my surprise when a few years later, the very same oficer did a talk on crime at a college I was attending. Needless to say, he didn't leave with his reputation intact as I simply told the truth.


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## MacB (6 Jul 2009)

I'd like them to arrange a massive sting operation that hits the the buyers as well as the thieves. They could observe for a while and arrest each buyer as they leave the area, out of sight of runners/spotters etc. Impound the bikes for evidence, the buyers money is retained in evidence and, at the end of the period, round up all the thieves as well. 

All this, I got it from a guy for cash, don't know who, was in pub I can't remember name of etc, just shouldn't be accepted. 

Well done the OP on getting your bike back, I'm not impressed with police response as reported by you.


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## RedBike (9 Jul 2009)

If there's so many stolen bikes in Brick lane. Why is nothing ever done about it?


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## robl (9 Jul 2009)

In previous Brick Lane crackdowns the police/council have carried out, the difficulty facing them (although to use the bikes may be 'obviously' stolen) is being able to quickly prove that the bikes are stolen. (and intent to sell this stolen property)

In fact, previous efforts by the police at the council's market team have been able to take action against the bike sellers for illegal trading (easier to prove) rather than selling stolen bikes.

Register your bike's frame number (and other property) on immobilise.com as the police search this database when they recover stolen bikes. (Also if they stop kids on bikes they think might be stolen, they can do a quick check of the frame number to see if there's a registered owner.) Otherwise, there's no way they can conclusively prove, at the scene, that the bike is stolen. (unless in the rare case that the owner is there with the paperwork or some proof!)


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## Flying_Monkey (10 Jul 2009)

One thing that's good out here in Japan is that all bikes have to be registered with the local police when they are bought, which makes bike theft more difficult. However the flipside of this is that it also makes just borrowing a bike more difficult (particularly as a foreigner*).

*The police here tend to assume that any foreigner riding a bike has probably stolen it. I once had two squad cars stop me because I was riding a bike that wasn't registered to me - it was my wife's - and I couldn't contact the owner right away.


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## dellzeqq (10 Jul 2009)

well, if I may inject a small ray of sunshine in to the gloom.

Our CTC section rides from North Cheam out in to the country. When I joined I led a few rides in to the centre of London, by way of a change.

We'd gone from North Cheam up to Columbia Road, by way of Brick Lane. We'd stopped at Columbia Road because one of our members had served his apprenticeship there (_a little while ago_), and was looking for familiar landmarks.

A bike comes up from Brick Lane, at speed, pursed by a motor scooter. The motor scooter rams the bike, and the cyclist falls off. A police car arrives at speed and pursues the cyclist...

Turns out the bike was pinched, the cyclist took off with the police in pursuit, but the scooterist (the legitimate owner) realised that he had the better chance of catching the thief.

This little morality play enthralled the Cheam and Morden. Some of them suspected it had all been put on for their entertainment.


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## ttcycle (10 Jul 2009)

Mocker - glad you got your bike back - I think we dealt with the same CID officer - I posted a link about my expensive bike being stolen here back in Mar/April - a Specialized Ruby Elite - She said that there was no way I could prove the bike was mine even though it was appearing on Gumtree for well under half it's value - had these modifications done to it to remove any items that were added by me - so it was not a standard set up- she had the frame number; it was security marked but I was told 'it's not murder'..they basically wouldn't come to assist me to pick up my bike from a guy who was stupid enough to give me his full address, had told me he had several bikes (stolen no doubt) and the advert on Gumtree was seriously suspect. At the time I was thinking of launching a complaint as the police had a new set of standards just out in Jan this year but decided it would be a waste of my time and completely fruitless in the end.

Good on you for persisting!

Saddens me that Gumtree and Brick Lane are known theft spots.


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## Crankarm (11 Jul 2009)

Nasty situation and full marks for the stake out. You're alot braver than many. It's good you got it back but only through your own endeavours. Wrt the police - IPCC complaint job to my mind re the officer's attitude and behaviour toward you and the force's systemic failing to take bike theft or cyclists complaints of theft of their bikes seriously. You don't need to make it long. Cc in the Chief Constable as well although the IPCC will be in contact with the Chief Constable. An IPCC investigation should make this copper a bit worried for a few months especially if they were really aggresssive toward you or even assaulted. You are lucky they didn't violently push you over or beat you with their baton such is their propensity for violence towards non threatening people .

When my Brompton was stolen in 2004 from the London University building in Malet Street London plod didn't want to know. I couldn't even find a plod in Central London that night. When home I rang my local force but they were definitely not interested as the theft did not occur on their patch. Barstewerds.

In the end I gave up with the pigs and just told my insurance company. My Brommie had been locked with a Kryptonite D-lock (I later found out it was as secure as a piece of string) which the thief(s) had left behind, but anyway the insurance paid up and I had a new one 3 weeks later. I guess mine went to Brick Lane market. Had I still been living in London I would have looked for it, as you did yours, as it was a fairly distinctive and precious L6 to me. But I was just too far away and it didn't make economic sense to try.

I would suggest you make a complaint to the IPCC about the officer in your case otherwise this officer will just continue being a jerk .


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## Lizban (4 Aug 2009)

No defending the police officer's rudeness. But I do have some sympathy for her in her questioning of you. She turns up and has two conflicting stories (it is clear to you what is the truth but not clear to a third party).

Overall I'm pleased you got the bike back.

(PS I *ALMOST* admire the thief's front of asking for the £60!!!!)


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## Kuota M (25 Aug 2009)

With London Mayor Boris Johnson's new bike initiatives we can expect a flurry of new bike riders over the next 3 years and no doubt an increase in bike theft. The authorities need to take it seriously and not make you feel like a burden even if you haven't reported the crime in the first place.

I mean, how many of us have the serial numbers of our TVs, DVD players, Radios and Computers written down at home? If you do, have you registered it on the police national database? Since the powers that be are eager to bring in ID cards, perhaps they could do something useful and add the data of all of our legally owned possessions to it.

What is the point of being the most watched nation in the world when no one is looking when you need them to?

Right, I'll get off my soap box, someone else can use it now 

Thanks for the tale my friend, much appreciated.


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## skrx (26 Aug 2009)

principalm said:


> With London Mayor Boris Johnson's new bike initiatives we can expect a flurry of new bike riders over the next 3 years and no doubt an increase in bike theft.



Just with the increase in cycling this year there's been an associated significant increase in bicycle theft.



> I mean, how many of us have the serial numbers of our TVs, DVD players, Radios and Computers written down at home?



I do -- it's all on immobilise.com

(PS what's a radio? :-) )


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