The Bicycle(s) Thief(s)

What a horrible way to start a weekend!

ON SATURDAY MORNING, our shed was broken into and they stole ALL THREE BIKES!!

I actually discovered the crime in progress, but didn’t know it at the time! Around 4 o’clock, I took Karma out for a pee. She often goes to the grass beside dumpster. This time, she poked her head around the corner and took off in the other direction. After she peed on the front lawn, we went around the dumpster and I noticed a bicycle leaning against it. On closer inspection, I realized it was B-R-C’s old bike! Then I noticed MY BIKE leaning against the post of the new fence. Further investigation took me into the backyard where I saw the shed had been busted open. B-R-C’s new bike was gone! So I went inside, woke B-R-C up with the news, called the cops and went outside to photograph the scene. I walked Karma back and forth in front of the house for a while, and when I saw a skunk up the road decided to go into the house to wait for the cops. That must have been around 5 o’clock. I didn’t do anything else because I didn’t want to disturb the Crime Scene. The cops showed up about 45 minutes later, and when I went to show them the scene, THE OTHER TWO BIKES WERE GONE!!!!! The bastards had come back for them. Or worse, they were hiding in the backyard waiting. I could have encountered them in the middle of it. Who knows what might have happened to me or Karma then!

So the cops investigated the scene. I showed them the pictures I had taken. They took the report with a description of the bikes. Not much else they can do, or are likely to do. Once we get the serial number for B-R-C’s new bike (we don’t have the paperwork for the old bikes anymore) they’ll enter the information into the computer and if the serial number is run it will come up as stolen. One cop’s comment, “It doesn’t surprise me with Birchlea around the corner.” I guess those low-rent low-rise apartments are “well known to police.” Thanks for nothing and have a nice day!

On Sunday, we went to the bike shop to get the information for B-R-C’s new bike. They are going to give us a paper showing the value of it and the other two bikes so we can give it to our insurance company. I have a call into the insurance company and am waiting for an adjuster to call me back.

This is no petty crime. We lost about $4,500 worth of stuff! B-R-C’s new bike is/was worth about $2,000. She had a rack pack on the bike, with her $100 baseball glove and some other stuff in it. The replacement value of her old one is/was worth about $1,500. My clunker of a bike wasn’t worth a lot. It cost me about $300 when I got it. I’ve ridden it several thousand kilometers, it’s beginning to wear out, and I was getting ready to replace it. But that’s not the point. It’s the principal of the thing that leaves me without the use of my clunker!!

It’s going to take us a little while to get our lives back to normal. The first thing I’m doing is getting the dumpster out of the driveway. The next thing will be to get the fence completed and make sure it can be securely locked. Then I’ll get around to re-inforcing the locking on the shed. In the meantime, I’ve screwed the doors shut since they won’t close on their own right now.

I hope your weekend was better than mine!