BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

What neighborhood?

For informational purposes, was it locked?

Mt. Washington.

No it was not locked. I had it on my balcony that's about 20 feet from the ground.

The City of Pgh Police officer rolled his eyes at me when I told him it was taken from my balcony.

No guarantees that your bike is included, but there have been three FOUND bikes postings on Craiglist in recent days. I think two were in the East End, and the third in the South Hills. Might be worth checking out.

I hate when they roll their eyes.

I'll check out the posts, Thanks

The funny thing happend after I noticed the bike was missing. I took a walk around my neighborhood to see if maybe they dumped it. When I was walking back to my place I called 911 to report it stolen. I was on the phone with the police and three Pgh bicycle officers start riding strait for me. I’m jumping up and down and waiving my hands at them to stop. All three look right at me and keep going…I guess they did not want to disturb their cadence…An officer in a car showed up 10 min later.

sheesh. from your balcony? that is mighty creepy.

Mt. Washington seems to be home to vertically-inclined thieves. People I know that live up there have had their third-floor windows broken into during the workday and had their possessions stolen. Of course, there was a fire escape involved...

Yep, it was creepy. No fire escape or access to my balcony...the next day I picked up new locks for my door and windows.

I am curious.. is it a rented apt?

The reason I ask, we lived in an apt complex once where they would do monthly pest treatments. So once a month, service personnel would come through out place whether we were there or not. I am pretty sure some of our stuff went missing during that time but could never prove it.

Also, hopefully you have insurance that will replace the bike, paying a deductible sux, but at least there is some coverage.

So if anyone else had keys or access to your place, make sure you lock up your valuables.

I do rent but the owner does not have any type of monthly exterminator contract that I’m aware of...I’m going to ask my landlord if anyone else might have the keys, but I doubt they walked past my flat screen TV and other stuff to take my bike?

I recently moved in and have not called my agent yet for a new policy so I'm screwed…One of the first things the police officer asked me after he rolled his eyes was if I had insurance…sort of implying...

This kills me because I’m usually very good at keeping my bike locked up. When I rode to work or wherever I always kept it locked…the Y frame always made it interesting…I had a long 3/8 steel cable with a combination lock rapped very tightly around the center post when it was stolen.

So usually policies cover you within 30 days of a move.. if it has been less than that.. would still be worth a call to your agent just to see I guess.

@Greasefoot One of the first things the police officer asked me after he rolled his eyes was if I had insurance…sort of implying...

I'm pretty sure that is a required question and, as such, implies nothing at all.

Usually a renters policy will cover a percentage (10, 15, 20%?) of the total insured amount while away from your residence. According to my agent, my bike would be covered if someone stole it from a bike rack while I was away from home. Maybe that still applies in your case?

Thanks for the advice I’ll call my agent and see what she says.

I've never had to file a police report before and I was somewhat offended by the question…I’m sure you are right and he was just doing his job…I guess after you are robbed you get kind of paranoid...

It's been mentioned in previous posts regarding stolen bikes that the police have bigger, more important things to do.

I'm curious. What is that?. I would think stolen bikes is right up their avenue and they'd have plenty of time to look around while they're on their beat. There's stolen bikes at 5108 Dresden way on a regular basis, maybe start there. I just recovered one at Stanton and Butler last week and I'm not even a cop.

Dresden Way is the right place to look for anything stolen…it’s a heroin ally…

Domestic Violence, DUI, graffiti and drug possession. Lately, I think they're raising money for the PPA -- lots of parking enforcement.

The police blotter is online:

http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/police/blotter/

It's not always clear to me which entries are merely "responded to call" and which actually involved a citation/summons/arrest.

I hit the streets again yesterday looking for my bike. I ran into 3 guys with mountain bikes in Grandview Park. One guy claims to have seen someone riding my bike around the neighborhood. Before I could show him a picture he described the bike perfectly including the bright yellow saddle.

It sounds like my bike is not chopped up yet…

I receive a call today from a City of Pittsburgh burglary detective. The Sheriff's department arrested someone from Mt Washington that was on the county's most wanted fugitive list. They said he has a few bikes in his possession and they want me to come take a look. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Hope they have your bike. Wow with your bike being stolen and me seeing a guy get jumped outside Cogos last night you would think the cops might patrol the area even just once in a while.

Crossing my fingers.

Good luck, hope you get your rig back.

Well? Get your bike back? I'd be thrilled if this story turned positive!! If not, i apologize.

My friend in GA woke up one night to a rustling outside on his 2nd story balcony, opened the door, shotgun in hand to a black guy climbing up to the 3rd floor (his gf's apt.) Because he was locked out, needless to say, he was almost shot..How he didn't freak when a gun was pointed at him and fall off is beyond me.Haha.Not sure why i always tell stories on here..Killing time i guess! Haha.

I did not get my bike back. I met with a Pgh police detective and we went to the kids parent’s house. The bikes that were on the back porch have since disappeared.

The detective told me this guy was into stealing for scrap. He would go into empty houses and rip out the copper tubing and wire. Apparently aluminum bikes are also popular for this type of theft and they get about $12 dollars a bike at the scrap yard.

$12.

Seriously? How hard up for cash do you have to be to steal a bike from (for example) a balcony for $12?

Sorry about your ride, I hope it still turns up.

Apparently this kid is not too bright. He sold several uses/stolen video games to a resale shop in Dormont. After providing his photo ID and being paid for the games, he then walked around the store and shoplifted more games. The storeowner called the police and the police arrested him a few miles away on the T.

and he's on the county's most wanted list? i know that says something about the county, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

The Sheriff department most wanted list is for individuals with bench warrants and parole violations. This guy was wanted for violating the conditions of his probation/parole in connection with a burglary conviction.

http://www.sheriffalleghenycounty.com/

oh it's so wrong but that page makes me giggle. I've read far too many Stephany Plum books. And the non-supported Top 50 - they're almost all grinning, they must use DMV photos. I couldn't imagine being that giddy over getting arrested. I also can't figure out the mechanics of apprehending and taking in a skip on a bike (because that's fun to think about). But it's early yet.

I was 5 feet away from my bike tonight...if I was not wearing my flip flops I would have got it back!

What is the appropriate way to approach someone riding your stolen bike?

With a big stick?

I'm not a small guy and my first reaction was to take this kids head off...I'm sure I scared the crap out of him...Hind sight is 20/20 and I realize he may have nothing to do with the theft.

Ok, so what I have learned from this board this summer (in addition to many other things) is that flipflops can result in stupid accidents in which innocent people are killed, and flipflops can prevent an innocent victim (of a bike theft) from "possibly" retrieving their stolen property. Crap. From now on MY flipflops are reserved for the shore and my back porch!

I finally found an old pic of my missing bike!

I saw it a few days ago on it's way to Allentown/Beltzhover/Mt Oliver. I'm not giving up hope on my getting my bike back! And now that I know it's not chopped up I think it's only a mater of time that it's going to make it home!

My personal experience was to ride up to the bike, grab the headtube, and be like "This is my bike"

I also hugged the guy and gave him a lighter, better operating Schwinn and a bag of change, but your experience may vary. I think I was also wearing lycra, definitely not flipflops

This was also only a few days after the bike was stolen, so it might have been (probably was) the bike's second owner