Bike Index's February 2018 recoveries!


Finally! February 2018 was a 'light' month, with only 20 or so recoveries. No objections here! If blizzards and snow keep people from stealing bikes, great.

In this month's edition, we have:

  • Tons of SFPD, SPD, and PPB recoveries. Thanks to all the cops out there using Bike Index! (If your local police department isn't using Bike Index yet, send them our way!)
  • Another great recovery from Seattle-area user pawned_goods (IG)
  • "What a wonderful Valentine's Day surprise! Even though I didn't know the serial number, the photos and description helped!"
  • The never endling litany of stolen bikes on OfferUp continues - including one that led to the arrest of a 'tweaker with a back-pack full of laptops and tablets'
  • Also: Vlogger/cyclist/travel guy @duzer had bikes stolen, found them on Offerup, lost them again - but then somebody steals one of them back for him. He vlogs about it, natch, and gives us a shout-out. Thanks Ryan!

Before we get started: Recall that Bike Index is a 501(c)(3) non profit, so we run a tight ship.

I won't lie - it's pretty demoralizing to recover somebody's $4000 bike - and them only have them send us a $5 donation. But, hey, we love catching thieves and finding stolen bikes, so we keep at it. Point being: We would love it if you could donate to the Bike Index. Please help us keep these recoveries coming by donating here – tax deductible, too! We would appreciate it hugely if you did.

Now - onto this month's recoveries:

"Riverside Co Sheriffs recovered it this morning - stopping the rider for an unrelated crime. Apparently the Murrieta PD did not report the serial number stolen..."
2018 Cannondale Trail 5 - recovered: Feb 1, 2018
"Found by police in a search. Connected with me through Bike Index and Facebook ..."
2018 Specialized Stumpjumper- recovered: Feb 2, 2018
"This is Portland Police, I have your bike ..." Ed note: PPB recovered a ton of bikes in February. Keep up the good work!
LW star cruiser - recovered: Feb 4, 2018
"A gentleman, Andy, who bought it recently realized it was stolen once he checked in here! Absolutely amazing. THANK YOU SO MUCH!"
BMC Alpenchallenge - recovered: Feb 5, 2018
"An SFPD Officer recognized the bike from seeing it on Bike Index!"
2007 Volume Ends - recovered: Feb 8, 2018
"Portland PD recovered the bike! They encouraged me to use Bike Index - so glad I did!"
Trek 1.5 - recovered: Feb 8, 2018
"Portland Police department found my bike and ran the serial number through Bike Index. I was contacted right away (thanks Ben!) and picked it up the following day. Bike was in decent condition but wasn't missing any parts."
Giant Roam 2 - recovered: Feb 8th, 2018
"I was told by a local bike shop to record serial numbers and take pics and upload to the Bike Index. The Bike Index allowed me to go to the local police and report my stolen bike with great accuracy. 2 days later, I received a call from authorities saying that they found my bike. This is a great site to keep records with. A huge thanks to the police of Oregon for finding our bike."
Merax Finiss - recovered: Feb 10, 2018
"How bike was recovered: Police assistance. They were great!"
2017 Schwinn Schwinn Wayfarer 700c Women's Hybrid Bike - recovered: Feb 11, 2018
"Someone saw the Bike Index (listing) and called me - they shipped it back..."
2015 Specialized Sirrus - recovered: Feb 12, 2018
"Awesome work by the Bike Index and PPB Officers. Bike Index found the bike listed on OfferUp, and contacted PPB who arranged to meet the seller. The bike is worse for the wear but definitely salvageable. Kudos to all. The (seller) was some (redacted) with a back-pack full of laptops and tablets and apparently some meth. They arrested the thief and brought the bike back to me, which was interesting. I thought it would go to evidence. Same-day service! I’ve had a lot of bikes stolen over the years, and this is the first one to come back. " Ed note: @ppbbiketheft tweeted about this arrest.
2016 Specialized Roubaix Comp Disc - recovered: Feb 13, 2018
"Hi, This is Officer Scott with the Portland Police Bureau. I recovered your stolen Electra today. Please call me ..."
Electra Verse 21D - recovered: Feb 14, 2018
"Officer Randle of the Seattle PD North Precinct recovered my bike on Feb. 14 -- What a wonderful Valentine's Day surprise! He was able to ID it from both the police report and the Bike Index report. Even though I didn't know the serial number, the photos and description helped! The bike is in a few pieces, but the major ones appear to be there. I'm hopeful that I can repair it and get back on the trails (after recording the bike serial number and taking some photos of the actual bike, just in case). Thanks so much to Bike Index and Seattle Police, especially Officer Randle, for the return of my bike!"
2014 Trek 820 WSD - recovered: Feb X, 2018
Ed note: technically this was not a Bike Index recovery but we wanted to share it anyway due to the creative recovery circumstances: "A guy was on it and stopped right next to me and started talking about his new bike, he was so stupid that he left my Bluetooth speaker on the bike. When my phone connected with it he almost [redacted]. He dropped the bike and ran off ..."
Genesis GS29 - recovered: Feb 14, 2018
"I bought this bike this weekend from OfferUp for $300, regrettably, I didn't check here first. I checked the serial #'s and they match. It's in very good shape and I'd like to get it back to you. Thanks. I did go to the seller's home up in Vancouver/Battle Ground area, so if police want that info, I have their address. I also have text messages and the phone # of the seller..." Bike Index notes this seller's account is still active on OfferUp.
Kona Minute 20 - recovered: Feb 13, 2018
"Not sure if you have been contacted yet, but we (Portland Police) found your bike yesterday! Give me a call ..."
Raleigh - recovered: Feb 16, 2018
Another "non-Bike Index recovery" entry, but worth highlighting: Prolific cyclist/vlogger/film guy Ryan Van Duzer sadly joined the stolen bike club on Christmas day of 2017, which he explained in his video "Two Bikes Stolen on Christmas Day-A Message to the Thieves". They were quickly spotted for sale on ... yes ... just wait for it ... Offerup.com, but the his attempts to get help with this proved futile, as is often the case with, oh, literally f***ing everybody else in the universe who has found their stolen bikes listed on Offerup. Good news, though! Somebody decided to just straight up steal one of them back so, hey, all's well that ends well. Ryan lays this all out in "I Got My Stolen Bike Back In The Most Unbelievable Way!"
"Someone ditched your bike in my workshop at Jake's Famous Crawfish..."
Raleigh- recovered: Feb 16, 2018
"How the bike was recovered: Local bike shop!" (Bike Index thanks all the LBS's out there using Bike Index!)
2017 BMC BMC Speedfox SFO2 - recovered: Feb 20, 2018
"Hi I believe I may have found your bike! Its a Jamis nova lu Like in the picture, I got it from a gentleman that had it sitting behind his house by a trash can, claiming that someone had left it there a month ago and never returned to get it ( I would assume the thief perhaps) ..."
2003 Jamis Nova - recovered: Feb 23, 2018
"A bike store called me and they told me they had my bike. Apparently, a homeless person had brought it in for a tune-up with the lock still on and they suspected that it was stolen. The store looked up the serial number on Bike Index and called me. Thanks Bike Index!"
2017 Trek FX S 4 - recovered: Feb 24, 2018
Another spectacular find by Seattle-area stolen bike spotter pawned_goods (IG) "It was posted Specialized Awol posted couple of hours ago in Seattle. Got the guys ID + info and sent him on his way after showing him the listing."
Specialized Awol - recovered: Feb 26, 2018
"Found the bike on "OfferUp" and made an appointment to meet the seller - And then called the police..."
2004 Biomega Boston - recovered: Feb 26, 2018
"Hey I think I found your bike by way of purchase. I’m near where the Bike Index shows it was stolen. Cheers ..."
1988 BIANCHI VOLPE - recovered: Feb 26, 2018
"Hello. So I bought this bike a few years ago from Ebay. Recently I decided I wanted to sell the bike, so checked the serial number to confirm the model, and saw that it is listed as stolen! I never even thought to check the serial number until now. Whoever stole it must've sold it to the "seller" on Ebay, who I bought it from. Letting you know I still have the bike, and it is still in good condition (other than some scratches on the fork). I can't get a refund from Ebay because it's outside the "45 day period" since it was several years ago, however let me know if you'd like the bike back and we'll work on the deets on getting it back to you..."
2011 Trek Madone 4.5 - recovered: Feb 26, 2018

And that's it for February!