notenoughdaylig 

So my 16 year old son had his bike stolen from school 3 weeks ago. It was his fault as he didn't lock it and it was not in the bike cage. Being a little scared he didn't tell us for 4 days. I told him to report it to the police, etc. He didn't. So today at work I'm driving down the main drag in town and I see 3/4 guys in front of a old rundown house with 3/4 bikes. I'm driving about 45mph and just catch a glimpse of someone testing the shocks on a mtn bike w/ the same paint scheme as my son's. I pull over, turn around, park in front of the house and look straight at the bike for about 5 seconds. Then I turn around again and get back to work ( I'm driving a brown truck). Next stop I call my wife and tell her what I saw. Then I call my son and tell him to go to the police station and report the bike stolen. 40 minutes later I have a small time gap and stop at the police station and see my son in the waiting room. "Good," I think. I ask him how the stolen report is going and he gives me a HUGE smile. He says, "Mom has the bike". I think everything is aok and go back to work. I call my wife a little later and she said after work she drove to the address and saw the bike in the front yard and just took it! Now everyone knows who the real bad-a$% in the family really is.

I'm sure the story isn't quite over but what a day! I know this isn't quite c&v but thought you guys and gals might like a good story. --Greg

orangeology

love it!!!

repechage

As they say in D.C., time to lawyer up. Just in case.

OTS 

+1

shadoman

Correction: Your Wife Repo'd a bike... and that's even MORE badass !!!!

lostforawhile

always keep a record of the serial numbers, then there's no doubt who owns it.

momsonherbike

Go Mom!!

eja_ bottecchia

My Mom did the exact same thing when someone stole my brother's truck.

A few days after the truck was stolen, she saw it parked not far from the high school my brother attended.

My Mom parked her car on a side street and using the truck keys that she had in her purse (she had copies of all our car keys, just in case we ever got locked out) she got in the truck and drove it home. She then had me drive her back to where she had left her car.

We never found out who stole the truck, my brother was just happy to have it back.

ozneddy

Karma MoM strikes again !

krobinson103

Did that with my wifes stolen bike. Saw it locked to a pole.. with the same lock and same combination so I just unlocked it and walked it home. It got a bit rusted and torn up, but at least we got it back. The police are totally useless here in South Korea when it comes to burglary of bikes or household items.

eschlwc

i stole a bike once. i was ten and stole a mean kid's huffy and took it apart thinking i could somehow part it out for big bucks. got about halfway in disassembly, when i was ratted out. (the nerve.) i remember having a lot of trouble getting it back together.

wahoonc

I have had several bikes stolen over the years, the only way they got recovered is my getting them back, the police are useless when it comes to recovering stolen property around here. Best one was retrieving a buddy's early Kestrel CF. It had gotten stolen out of his locked garage. I was driving down through a less than stellar part of town and saw a kid sitting on the Kestral at a stop light (go figure) pulled up next to it, grabbed the top tube and told him he jump or go for a ride to the police station...he bailed. on one of mine I saw the bike go past the house and followed the clown, he goes into the local stop and rob, I threw a lock on the bike so he couldn't ride off on it and called the police. Of course there were no repercussions for him "some man gave me the bike"....RIIIIGHT! I just wish I had some of the others that have gotten stolen, like my big Bob Jackson Tourist.

Aaron

ilikebikes

Shes got bigger balls than you.

iab

Incorrect.

Cattywompus

Agreed. Careless does not equal asking for it.

repechage

Still probably beats the North.

StanSeven

Except your wife could have been shot. The mindset of many thieves is its their property now. Someone taking their property is wrong and they are defending what's theirs. Plus many feel they need to set examples.

The best thing she could have done is call the police and wait down the block for when they come.

David Newton

Except she didn't. Hindsight is 100%, so we know she did the right thing.

cooperryder

Yeah !!! Mom Power !!!

cobrabyte

I'm imagining 3 guys peeking out the window from behind the curtain.
"Hey man, is she taking your bike?"
"Looks like she is! Go get her!"
"No way! She's got a crazy look in her eyes! I'm not going out there..."

tolfan

isnt oj doing life for the same thing?

non-fixie 

Is that pride or fear I'm sensing here?

bikingshearer 

There are a few differences. Unlike the OP's situation: (1) the provenance of what OJ tried to repo was challenged by the then-current holder, which led to; (2) OJ's attempt at being RepoMan involved firearms and viable threats of imminent physical harm; and (3) the legal doctrine of "payback's a bee-yoch" applied to OJ - murdering your ex is karmic bad scoobies, even of your12 stupidest peers found you not guilty (which, by the by, is 100% not the same as finding him "innocent").

I also don't think OJ is doing a life sentence, but let's not quibble over minor details.

This illustrates a point most of us who have kids already know: do not piss off Mama Bear.

gaucho777 

No.

OJ was convicted for the following:

Count 1: Conspiracy to Commit a Crime
Count 2: Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping
Count 3: Conspiracy to Commit Robbery
Count 4: Burglary while in Possession of a Deadly Weapon
Count 5: 1st Degree Kidnapping with Use of a Deadly Weapon (for Bruce Fromong)
Count 6: 1st Degree Kidnapping with Use of a Deadly Weapon (for Alfred Beardsley)
Count 7: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon (for Bruce Fromong)
Count 8: Robbery with Use of a Deadly Weapon (for Alfred Beardsley)
Count 9: Assault with a Deadly Weapon (for Bruce Fromong)
Count 10: Assault with a Deadly Weapon (for Alfred Beardsley)

And that little incident in Brentwood may have influenced the sentencing...

Cache

Congrats on recovering your kid's bicycle. And Kudos to Mom for kicking azz and taking names. I had to recover my own BMX in the early 80s, and beat the thief to a pulp. That kid was a bad seed...

And whoever said Hindsight is 100%, I think the saying is Hindsight is 20/20, but we knew what you meant.