Anonymous
By an edhat reader
I am posting this for community awareness. An e-bike stolen and recovered on Monday and I racked up some Karma. This happened at 11:30am in broad daylight on the Westside, 1800 block of Chino to San Pascual/Arrellaga Streets.
I heard my dog barking and came out to the front yard. I saw a guy walking fast, then running, when he heard me quiet my dog. He was carrying a black 75 lbs. e-bike over his shoulder. I knew my neighbor had an electric bike, I ran next door and saw the front fence ajar and no black electric bike in the yard. I knocked on the door and window, no answer.
I called 911 and followed the guy five to six blocks while on the line with dispatch. A second guy on a skateboard came around and tipped the guy off that I was following him and on the phone. He dropped the bike and they both walked different directions. I waited with the bike for about 20 minutes and then called back non-emergency dispatch. They said, my incident was on the board but no one was enroute, he suggested I take the bike back with me.
While I was on that call, the thief came back and picked up the bike in front of me. Originally, he had a different shirt on, it was long sleeve striped black and white. Same shorts, same hat so I knew it was him. I told him, “Get away, I am on the phone with the police.” He told me it was his bike and I said no, get away. He laughed and tried to shake my hand and walked away. I
decided to lug the bike back. Six blocks with a locked bike that weighs 75 lbs. When I arrived the neighbor was home and confirmed it was his bike, I was relieved because I wasn’t 100% sure. I was sweating head to toe and exhausted but I did a good deed. I hope others would do the same for me. Saved him over $1000.
Thief’s description:
Hair: Black hat, dark hair
Top: Originally. Black and white striped long sleeve then a black long sleeve.
Bottom: Tan or beige shorts
Shoes: Black sneakers white socks pulled up.
Age: Early to mid 20’s
Sex: M
Race: Hispanic
Physical Build: Thin to medium
CHIP – “you do not have a right to defend property in California.” Not true. You have the right to use reasonable, but no deadly, force to protect property. In this case, once he had possession of the bike after the thieves dropped it, he likely had a right to defend it. Not sure where you got that you can’t protect property in CA. No, you can’t shoot someone in the face if they steal your ice cream cone like in Texas probably, but you can surely protect/defend property in CA.
Sac, I would hate to be a defendant trying to prove the force I used to protect my property was “reasonable”. I think there should be a right to defend property, but I personally feel risking life to protect property is not worth it. In this situation it was someone else’s property, and that makes the applicability of the “reasonable force” law less certain. In addition, what if the thief being confronted responds with an escalation of force. Do you still have a right to defend yourself in that situation if you initiated the confrontation in order to protect someone else’s property?
Way to go! Love that you stood up to these bike thieves. Sure you took a risk but that is what we need to keep thieves at bay. So sorry the police did not back you up. You’re a hero for being willing to confront these thieves. Hope your neighbor appreciates you!
Can’t believe they didn’t send a cop during an active pursuit. What could be more important than protecting a citizen trying to protect his neighbor’s property? Next time call the fire department and report an injury. They seem to roll pretty quickly on their calls. And that would spur the cops to send a unit for their backup, at least.
wow some of you people are such thin skinned wimps. i bet you just lay down and roll over when someone demands your money. Sorry, there are folks like you all and folks like myself and the poster. I’ve confronted many theives in my neighborhood. I deal with homeless bike part theives, meth heads, heroin addicts, and gang bangers. I have pepper spray. I have a highly trained belgian malinois, i also have been training in mixed martial arts for 10 years. so yeah, i’m not letting some idiot try to walk away with my posessions. I confront. I take photos. I threaten if i have to and if that fails, i’ve got personal friends at SBPD and I’ll get them over there fast. BTW, i use txt and messenger to contact them, rather than calling the PD.
You have a choice. You stand up for yourself or you let others take what you have and you just lay down and take it. Which are you?
For those of you gasping at your pearls bc the PD didn’t stop some other officers in the middle of a task or job or call and rush them out there.
They are short staffed. They are busy and spread thin. Domestic violence, drug busts, etc trump an attempted robbery. Especially since the PD were not there to witness it.
It’s not like they have a bench where bored cops are sitting waiting for a call to come in so they can jump into action.
and for anyone who says, well at least i’m safe and my life isn’t threatened!
no, now you’re in a worse scenario, you’ve let the bad guys know you are weak and spineless and they will be back, i promise.
if you stand up and show them you’re going to defend your property or yourself, or neighbors property, they ain’t coming back. these guys are smash n grab. they want quick and clean and easy. make it not easy, they move on quickly.
CHIP and and and and shall we keep up with the theoretical scenarios that don’t exist or do we look at what just happened?
also, if you think you do’t have the right to defend your property in this state, please leave. go live in texas.
you have every right under the law.
Zero, don’t get the wrong idea. I believe you have every right to use force, even deadly force, to protect your property. In addition, I appreciate what you’re doing and I support you. I think more safeguards should be in place to protect people who do what you describe.
Seriously, the number of people stating that this person should not act as the police literally don’t see themselves acting to police what this person did. Also, each person has the right to assess their own danger and make their own decision about what to do. You really don’t think that a person who confronts this doesn’t know that there is some danger? Anyhow, to the person who did this, good on you and I commend you for taking that risk. I hope your neighbor is grateful as well. I am confused about how you contacted police on your phone but weren’t able to take a picture of the thief, but I am sure there was quite a lot going on at that time.
Thomas, I certainly wouldn’t want to kill someone over a bike, and I personally would choose to avoid risking life to protect property. However, in a situation where someone broke into your yard and started stealing your bike, I think you have a right to intervene and stop them. If they refuse to stop, I think you have a right to force them to stop by whatever means necessary. This was not traditionally controversial. Until relatively recently, it was perfectly legal to use deadly force to protect your property here in California. If you ever watched the old tv show Adam 12, they had an episode on that very topic where someone shot and killed a car thief. In the end, the police explained that it was perfectly justifiable to do that in that circumstance. This is no longer the case today, at least in california. I think Zerohawk brings up a good point that weakness emboldens the bad guys. Providing a legally protected means for people to forcefully protect their property is a very strong deterrent for criminals.
So, with all your wonderful skills and a trained defense/attack dog, you still criticize us mortals for not doing what you do?
Zhawk, taht is so very obnoxious. You’ve made some good points in the past, but this attitude shadows all of them.
Yes, I would keep myself safe. I lack your resources and skills. If they weren’t important, why would you be listing them? And bragging about them?
“i bet you just lay down and roll over when someone demands your money.”
HELL YES! Money ain’t worth being beaten, stabbed, or shot! And right back at you for having such a crappy, denigrating attitude to how others choose to behave.
Oh, well, Adam-12. Okay, I’m convinced now. 🙂
Way to go! Everyone could a vigilant and helpful neighbor like you.
Now the thieves, probably gang members, know where you live. You’ve put your life at risk for a bike that probably costs a few hundred dollars. Not really sure this is news – and people would be better off not pretending to be law enforcement.
First of all: Greenies and other sumptuous treats to your dog. It’s brilliant that s/he alerted you to this theft. As to your actions:
For your own peace of mind and safety I urge you to purchase at least two canisters of pepper gel —- one to stick by your front door and the other one for your vehicle. (Gel cost is about $10.00 each.) If you’re going to confront thieves and other such evil-doers, you ought to have pepper gel for your protection.***************** I would **love** to hear why, on a Monday at 11:30 a.m., the SBPD was too busy to send out a unit/officer. A lone samaritan confronting a bike thief team is a bad situation. Also: these thieves must be pretty low-key /basic in their methods not to have the means to dismantle or otherwise decommission that bike lock.*********************** The skateboard being involved causes me to wonder if these are the same guys Edhat showed us video of, as they stole bikes off the rear of an SUV near PatcoI Jewelers (Haley St.), months back. And wasn’t there a similar duo (caught on camera) who stole a bike out of a guy’s apartment on lower Chapala St. not too long ago? I hope your heroic efforts and deeds are rewarded appropriately. A 90-minute massage for those aching calves, shoulder and back muscles, at the very least.
Nicely done! In the photo you posted of the guy, is he wearing a black bike helmet? He’s also wearing a daypack, and that reminds me of the guys who stole the bikes in this edhat posting: https://www.edhat.com/news/bike-thieves-caught-on-camera
They had their tools in the daypack. Hope the thief is caught.
I would be very reluctant to confront a thief in this kind of situation. While you theoretically have a right to be there, and you have an absolute right to self defense, you do not have a right to defend property in California. If a confrontation like this were to escalate, you might be blamed as an aggressor for trying to do the right thing. Prosecution would say you shouldn’t have been there, that you were looking for a fight. Also, I would be very careful about relying on pepper spray for protection. You are likely to get it on yourself if you use it, and the person you are confronting may not feel obliged to respect California’s laws against carrying more lethal weapons.
My expensive bike is either in my garage, or locked and secured to something solid when I go somewhere else and stop.
It is too easy for a thief to pick up a locked, but unsecured bike and make off with it. In Isla Vista, there are numerous bicycle thefts, and the bikes are never recovered. The thieves come with a pickup truck from out-of-the-area, and within ten seconds lift and carry the unsecured bicycle to the back of the pickup truck. Oftentimes, the pickup truck has a shell over the bed, so the fact that it is suspiciously carrying a number of locked bicycles remains hidden.
Chip, we all have different opinions on this forum and we rarely agree on things. However….we do have the right to defend ourselves, our property and our person. I walk the neighborhood with my malinois. i call friends at the PD and ask them to drive down some certain streets and make a presence known. all of these things work. they are constant deterrents. i been here a long time and have witness a lot of gang activity and just bad behavior such as stealing. i fight for whats right. i don’t put myself in a bad spot where i can’t get out safely. i’ve been around the block as they say, so i follow my intuition which always tells me to stand up. we can’t allow people to control us out of fear or posibilities.
i’m pretty surprised you and i finally agree on something lol 😉 cheers Chip!
Sac, if someone is in your yard, stealing something and you go out there to stop them, they pull a knife or a gun, you pull yours, or even a golf club and wack the snot out of them. you have that right to defend yourself, in a situation like this it’s wack or be wacked! I won’t get wacked…but i’ll sure knock the snot out of a theif if they try to harm me or my dog or my kids. but to directly answer your question, nothing is worth losing life over. nothing. those chances are pretty slim though in these scenarios that we’re discussing
Thomas, what if the guy pulled a knife or a gun on you when he’s confronted? damned straight i’ll use what i know and disarm him and probably clobber him with the butt of his own weapon. if you don’t know how to do that but you have a way to defend yourself, you have that right in our country. this is not a right or left side thing, this is protecting yourself.
Chip, love Adam 12!
btw if chip is your real name, i may know you through your wife. friend of a friend kinda thing. i know one chip that lives in SB county and is a right leaning guy that i used to work with. years ago.
ZERO – well yeah, if they pull a gun or something on you, then the whole thing changes and now you have a right to defend yourself against harm. But, if they’re just grabbing your bike, or skateboard, or sex doll off your porch, you can’t use deadly force (ie, shoot them) to protect that property….. even if she/he/it means a lot to you.
What a rant. We are now actually supposed to rely on alleged legal advice from an ancient and very bad TV show Adam 12 to justify killing someone trying to steal a bike? This is scary and incorrect. Generally speaking one has the right to use deadly force if confronted inside a residence and in fear of their safety or outside if the aggressor poses such a reasonable threat. One does not have the right to kill just because someone is stealing property from your yard. Anyone who is actually planning on taking such steps would be well advised to get some legal advice from a trained criminal practice attorney before adopting the stuff said here.