Bike stolen and recovered a week later!
Hello, long time lurker first time poster here. Thought I would share this little story, and hopefully get some thoughts from y'all.
About 1 week ago, my Fuji Newest 3.0 bike was stolen at my office in daytime - it was locked with a mid-range Kryptonite U-lock and thanks to the blurry security camera footage, I can see it took the thief only 1 minute to break the lock (no, it's not one of the older bic pen unlockable models).
I loved that bike, and not owning a car and doing all commuting via that bike, it was more than a financial loss. So - less than a week later, I see the bike pop up on Craigslist. I call the seller, act interested in the bike, show up with cops and bingo, it's my bike (had the serial number thankfully). The catch is he has proof he bought it from Goodwill for $250. So being a nice guy I paid him $250 for the bike back, and everyone's square.
Now, the big question in my mind is - how does a bike get stolen and immediately end up at Goodwill for $250? The thief can't sell it and decides to donate it to charity? I don't think so, and last I checked, Goodwill doesn't buy bikes that people walk in off the street with.
Just curious to hear your guys' thoughts on the matter, and also to share a bike theft story with a (mostly) happy ending.
Cheers!