Bike Index's November recoveries


Most of the nation was busy freezing its face in November, so bike theft reports did indeed finally drop a little here at the Bike Index … but we still helped hook up a bunch of great stolen bike recoveries.

In our November 2017 edition:

  • Current score: Portland Police: 6, Seattle Police: 5, Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office: 2
  • A PDX visitor has his bike for only a few hours before it's stolen ... then the hunt for the thieves bears fruit, as surveillance footage shows them clear enough to link them to other crimes, and Portland Police zero in
  • "I never even got around to the Police report..." before the Bike Index (and SPD) helped find this bike
  • We got a super nice FB note from the wife of a bike theft victim here in PDX - " Anyway, the site helped me to not take the theft personally and that it happens literally every day"
  • YALFSBR: Yet Another Laney Flea Market Stolen Bike Recovery

Before we get started - Recall that Bike Index is a 501(c)(3) non profit and as the year comes to a close - we could really use your help.

It's pretty painful - we monitor thieves who fence stolen bikes online - and they make more cash on a single stolen bike sale than we get in donations for a whole month. Even though we'll recover 40+ bikes, it seems that people just really don't want to pitch into this effort - even after we've helped them pull a bike-sized needle out of a city-sized haystack.

And I won't lie - it's pretty demoralizing to recover somebody's $4000 bike - and only get 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 the recoveries:

"Cycle Portland got pinged back to my bike. Love this site! Saved me $500" (Editor's note: Cycle Portland is awesome, and has recovered lots of bikes. Keep up the good work in 2018 guys)
2011 Trek Wahoo - recovered: 11/01/2017
"Neighbor found the bike and brought it to the police station. He then saw the posting on Bike Index and called me (the owner). After several calls with the police over a four week period they finally located where the bike was (all the time in their possession) and I was able to pick it up. Big thanks to the finder for calling me as I have little confidence that the police would have matched the bike with my police report..."
2012 Workcycles Secret Service - recovered: 11/02/2017
"A guy that works at JRA bike shop on 85th found it discarded without wheels in an alley on the to work. And brought it in. The irony is that I had shopped for a replacement at JRA the day before and told him my story and they put 2&2 together and called me..."
Specialized Stumpjumper - recovered: 11/02/2017
"Bike was recovered thru police intervention and local pawn shop cooperation. Thank you Bike Index for watching and noticed a connection via a pawn shop. I had to go thru the insurance company and police dept to recover the bike. I am glad I took the time to list my bike on the Bike Index, the pawn shop was very cooperative."
2011 Scott SUB 10 XL- recovered: 11/02/2017
"I found my stolen bike listed on Offerup.com about a month after it was stolen. I set up a meeting and called the cops to go with me."
2012 Trek Madone 4.5 WSD - recovered: 11/03/2017
"Recovered by a Seattle Police Officer, and ID'd in the Bike Index..."
2006 Tireno Razza - recovered: 11/05/2017
"It was for sale at the Laney College Flea Market. An excellent person named Tom spotted it and contacted us via Bike Index. It was our bike, and it is safely back home! Thank you so much Tom, Bryan and Lily! Anne and I, and our daughter Eleanor who rides on the back of that bike are so grateful for your help. We really owe you a favor ..."
Xtracycle Edgerunner 10E - recovered: 11/05/2017
"My bike was found by Portland Police with a homeless person. It was returned to me in relatively good state..."
2016 Specialized Roubaix - recovered: 11/06/2017
"A Good Samaritan found this bike ... " (no other details supplied)
2010 Gary Fisher Cobia - recovered: 11/06/2017
"Found on eBay, traced it to a pawn shop. Police recovered the bike!!"
2017 Specialized Camber FSR Medium - recovered: 11/07/2017
"Awesome job Bike Index, Deputy (redacted) of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Dept. and USA Pawn in Milwaukee! USA Pawn checked Bike Index immediately, determined that it was probably my daughter's bike (the serial # was off by one character) and managed to get the seller to abandon it. I just wanted to thank you, Bike Index and The Clackamas County Sheriff's Dept. for your help in recovering my daughter's bike! Bike Index worked awesomely - the people at USA Pawn said they checked Bike Index immediately, and even though the serial # was off by one character, they grilled the guy trying to pawn it and I guess convinced him to abandon the bike. Kudos to them as well!"
2014 Specialized Vita - recovered: 11/07/2017
"This bike was another Clackamas County Sheriff's Dept. recovery... " (no other details)
1996 LeMond Racing Cycles Alpe d'Huez - recovered: 11/09/2017
"The Portland Police Bureau recovered this bike ..." Editor's note: If you're not following the Portland Police Bureau crew on twitter, check them out at @ppbbiketheft
2017 Ghost Kato 5 - recovered: 11/12/2017
"Police recovered! I never even got around to the Police report. The (Seattle) police officer told me he uses Bike Index all the time, ... he saw it near a homeless camp. Checked Bike Index. Found it. Called me! I had given up. Got it back one month to the day from the theft."
Generic/no name None - recovered: 11/14/2017
"Hi, I believe we have your bike at our school. The S/N is one character off what you have reported but is a similar character (5 instead of S). If you can verify the frame size I would love to get your bike back to you. I have it locked up, so it does not get stolen again..."
2017 Specialized Vita Elite Disc - recovered: 11/15/2017
"A good Samaritan saw someone riding the bike on 145th and Division in Portland and thinking it looked suspicious offered the person cash for the bike on the spot. The thief/seller accepted way, way, way under market value for the bike. They then checked the Bike Index, saw my listing, and got in touch. I got the bike back and reimbursed him the next day."
2017 Specialized POLER AWOL - recovered: 11/15/2017
Editor's note: this story was nuts - the owner shown here bought his bike at the excellent Glady's Bikes in Portland, OR - only to have it stolen literally hours later from a smash and grab in downtown PDX. There were some murky surveillance photos of the thieves, and this theft got some media attention as well. Turns out, Portland Police had the same thieves linked to another robbery --- (Email from another victim) - " I think from the pictures you have on here, the couple who stole your bike are the same ones who took multiple bikes from the Boatyard PDX building where I live. Just got msg that they have been arrested by PPD, I hope you will get your bike! Detective Chamberlain apparently recovered multiple bikes..." (Owner) - "The detective told me her name was (redacted) and was arrested in Beaverton - her backpack was full of stolen clothes with the security tags on them, the sweater she was wearing had a security tag on it ... ****s only scratched half the serial number off. Lazy bums." (Later, a nice note from the victim's wife: Just wanted to let you know that Bike Index gave my husband hope and confidence that his bike would be found. As you know—it was recovered. It was a horrible day to see him soooo happy after making the purchase only to get so sad when seeing that it had been stolen a few hours later. It broke my heart. Had it not been for Gladys Bikes we wouldn’t have known about Bike Index. This site also helped ease my mind as I was ready to pack my bags and move back to TN because the theft actually scared me. I’ve never had anything stolen from me before and I sure as hell have never seen my husband so bummed. Anyway, the site helped me to not take the theft personally and that it happens literally every day—sadly. Also, thanks for reaching out to Patrick. We are overwhelmed by the help. And of course by Gladys Bikes as they weren’t going to let Patrick go empty handed. But even if that were the case I would still buy a bike or two from them. They were definitely the nicest people." (Editor's note: Gladys Bikes folks definitely are the nicest people! )
- recovered: 11/17/2017
"Found a post on Craigslist, reported it to Police. They arranged a meeting with the seller and recovered the bike."
2001 Cannondale R1000 - recovered: 11/20/2017
An awesome PDX rider spotted this stolen bike outside of a fairly well known and problematic encampment/transient location and called it in - "This bike is on the front steps of Sunnyside Methodist SE 35th and Yamhill as of right now. I'm calling non emergency to notify. I'll post up in the park for a few minutes to watch it."
Dasani Water CO. Commuter Bike - recovered: 11/20/2017
"Seattle police called my wife last week. Apparently the bike had been sold to a Cash America in White Center who "couldn't find the serial number because there were so many numbers on the frame". Uh huh. Someone bought the bike recently, but felt something was fishy, so they searched for it (I assume on Bike Index) when they got home, realized it was stolen, and called the police. They got their money back and Seattle Police notified us to pick it up from the pawn shop, missing the fenders, rack, and lights, but in pretty good shape otherwise..."
2012 Salsa Vaya - recovered: 11/20/2017
"Recovered by a Portland Police Bureau Officer ..." (No other information)
2008 Salsa Casserole - recovered: 11/20/2017
Recovered by one of Portland's Bike Gallery shops - "Looks like we have your stolen GIANT in our shop..."
2010 Giant Cypher 1 - recovered: 11/21/2017
"Saw a guy with it on the street. Used my Bike Index listing to show the cops it was mine (serial #)..."
2015 SPECIALIZED LANGSTER- recovered: 11/22/2017
"Someone found on the street, and located us via Bike Index - thanks!"
1999 Kona Jake the Snake - recovered: 11/22/2017
"A Seattle PD officer who was in Ballard on Friday, November 24, 2017 responded to my stolen bike post mentioning that he may have found my bike locked outside of an RV. I met him at the Ballard Public Library where I was able to confirm that it was my bike. Parts had been tampered/adjusted/switched to disguise my bike. I didn't really think that posting on Bike Index would help but I'm glad it did!"
Schwinn Trailway - recovered: 11/24/2017
"Hello, Seattle Police Officer here. I recovered your bike 11/24/17 it will be at SPD North Precinct until Monday, then off to evidence section. You may recover it there after Monday..."
2015 Giant Trance 2 - recovered: 11/24/2017
"Buyer found out that I was the owner by using Bike Index - thanks!"
2014 Fuji Nevada 29 - recovered: 11/24/2017
The police found and returned it, though by that point it had been stripped of everything except the frame.
2013 SCOTT Sportster X50 - recovered: 11/26/2017
"Recovered by a Portland Bike Theft Task Force officer...." (no other info)
TREK 7.5 FX - recovered: 11/28/2017

And that's a wrap for November 2017. Keep your bikes safe, folks, and we'll catch you in the next installment.