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Thief returns $5,000 bike

Old 04-20-19, 04:22 AM
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Gconan
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Thief returns $5,000 bike

Tired of Being Recognized, Thief Returns $5,000 Bike Stolen During Test Ride


Bike thief returns bike
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Old 04-20-19, 06:16 AM
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I like the shop's response...

“He said, ‘I can’t go anywhere or do anything, everyone knows me and this bike,’” store manager Anthony Karambellas said. “He said he wanted to part ways and get this over with, but we told him, ‘That’s not quite how this works, dude.’
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Old 04-20-19, 08:29 AM
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Not guilty? I'd like to know how he's going to weasel his way out of this one.

"Verdugo pleaded not guilty to all charges last week and was released under supervision awaiting trial."
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Old 04-20-19, 09:02 AM
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The Saul Goodman phone was his undoing.
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Old 04-20-19, 09:10 AM
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Originally Posted by Marcus_Ti
I like the shop's response...
“He said, ‘I can’t go anywhere or do anything, everyone knows me and this bike,’” store manager Anthony Karambellas said. “He said he wanted to part ways and get this over with, but we told him, ‘That’s not quite how this works, dude.’
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Old 04-20-19, 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Doctor Morbius
Not guilty? I'd like to know how he's going to weasel his way out of this one.

"Verdugo pleaded not guilty to all charges last week and was released under supervision awaiting trial."
Well, he did return the bicycle.

This does seem pretty cut and dry, but our court system is very black and white. Either guilty or not guilty. Nothing in between. Needed to borrow a bike. Extenuating circumstances? Need to talk to a lawyer?

If so many people recognized the guy, why wait for him to return the bike rather than just go and pick him up?
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Old 04-20-19, 09:43 AM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
Well, he did return the bicycle.

This does seem pretty cut and dry, but our court system is very black and white. Either guilty or not guilty. Nothing in between. Needed to borrow a bike. Extenuating circumstances? Need to talk to a lawyer?

If so many people recognized the guy, why wait for him to return the bike rather than just go and pick him up?
A) Well...the man is a klepto thief. He seems to have admitted he does it because he doesn't have the income to buy what he wants--so he steals it from someone else. Only societal pressure got him to return it, otherwise he never would have... BTW the man ruined probably a $400MAP carbon handlebar by sawing it into bullhorns. What is more they have evidence he's committed grand theft before, and I doubt he returned those goods.

B) Bike theft basically isn't policed. The police will NEVER launch a man hunt for a bike theft. That is the reality. Doesn't matter if the guy's face is plastered all over the street and news and internet. It isn't deemed worth the manpower when there's other things to do. They take a statement from the owner, make a report--and leave it to the insurance covers it....because the odds of ever finding the thief or goods are, on a good day, best described as astronomical...this case is, ofc, the exception--where HD cameras caught his face well enough to have someone recognizable.


The only reason he's pleading "not guilty", is because of how things work. If you want to know/see the evidence of the case against you and if there's any room to contest anything--that is what you have to do. The man is caught red-handed with video evidence never mind testimony, but he still has to plead "not guilty" anyway just to even know what the case against him on things like identity theft/fraud actually is.

Last edited by Marcus_Ti; 04-20-19 at 09:48 AM.
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Old 04-20-19, 09:48 AM
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He returned a stolen bike because of his fear of getting caught and not because of his good conscience and integrity...Lowlife scumbag.
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Old 04-20-19, 09:55 AM
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California PC 532, Theft by False Pretenses. You can't really stand up and say "I didn't mean it," when you used a fake ID to steal a $5,000 bike.

And as he's apparently connected to 3 other bike thefts, he's looking at 4 or more counts. But this happened in California, so I'll be surprised if he gets anything beyond a fine and community service. You can run over a cyclist with a truck and not get so much as a ticket, so stealing bikes is barely even criminal.
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Old 04-20-19, 09:57 AM
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
He returned a stolen bike because of his fear of getting caught and not because of his good conscience and integrity...Lowlife scumbag.
Less fear...and more being tarred/feathered on the news and internet such that even his own acquaintances knew he was a scumbag thief.

Shame is a powerful motivator.
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Old 04-20-19, 10:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Marcus_Ti
B) Bike theft basically isn't policed. The police will NEVER launch a man hunt for a bike theft. That is the reality. Doesn't matter if the guy's face is plastered all over the street and news and internet. It isn't deemed worth the manpower when there's other things to do. They take a statement from the owner, make a report--and leave it to the insurance covers it....because the odds of ever finding the thief or goods are, on a good day, best described as astronomical...this case is, ofc, the exception--where HD cameras caught his face well enough to have someone recognizable.
A number of bikes with proper serial numbers do actually get recovered. More than a needle in a haystack.

It may be that social media was buzzing with the guy's name, but it didn't make it back to the shop and police. But, it likely would have been easier to drive past the apartment and pick him up than do the bike shop sting. Of course, it is always best to nab the cyclist and bike together.

If this goes to trial, and 3 years of prison. Felony. It could cost society well in excess of $100,000 to prosecute and incarcerate.

Paying an officer an hour's worth of labor to do the followup would have been a drop in the bucket.
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Old 04-20-19, 10:56 AM
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Ultimate folding bike an oversized tube Titanium Brompton variation, was Nicked in Portland,

Only 1 was in existence , A community wide search found one of the Street dwellers had taken it..
being as Unique as Bo Diddley's stage Guitar, the thief could not do anything, but give it up..
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Old 04-20-19, 11:03 AM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
Well, he did return the bicycle.

This does seem pretty cut and dry, but our court system is very black and white. Either guilty or not guilty. Nothing in between. Needed to borrow a bike. Extenuating circumstances? Need to talk to a lawyer?

If so many people recognized the guy, why wait for him to return the bike rather than just go and pick him up?
But that wasn't the only bike he stole. Plus there is the identity theft crime too. It's not just the one bike that he returned. Not that simple.
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Old 04-20-19, 11:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Doctor Morbius
But that wasn't the only bike he stole. Plus there is the identity theft crime too. It's not just the one bike that he returned. Not that simple.
Was he actually caught with all 3 bikes + CCD footage?

He can always change his plea later, but our system makes it so that one must start with a "Not Guilty" plea, otherwise there is nothing that one can do but go with the system.
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Old 04-20-19, 03:39 PM
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I wonder if this bike will become valuable in 20+ years due to this story.
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Old 04-20-19, 04:25 PM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
Ultimate folding bike an oversized tube Titanium Brompton variation, was Nicked in Portland,

Only 1 was in existence , A community wide search found one of the Street dwellers had taken it..
being as Unique as Bo Diddley's stage Guitar, the thief could not do anything, but give it up..
I met the guy, in the Tacoma/Sellwood area in Portland. No, not the thief, the bike owner. A most interesting story. Like many, those couple of weeks while in the hands of the thief, the bike saw a lot of wear.

It may well be that these high profile bikes are really hot potatoes for the thieves to hold onto. They're much better off just snagging a dozen Walmart bikes. Plus, it generally isn't a felony to snag a Walmart bike.
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Old 04-20-19, 05:45 PM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
I met the guy, in the Tacoma/Sellwood area in Portland. No, not the thief, the bike owner. A most interesting story. Like many, those couple of weeks while in the hands of the thief, the bike saw a lot of wear.

It may well be that these high profile bikes are really hot potatoes for the thieves to hold onto. They're much better off just snagging a dozen Walmart bikes. Plus, it generally isn't a felony to snag a Walmart bike.
Depends on the area.

One of the LBSes in My Fair City had 6-figures of floor bikes stolen in one night a few years back. 2 years back, the HOT thing for thieves was fat-bikes. The manager of one of the (other) LBSes, a man who knows how to secure a bike, had his fatbike stolen while eating downtown. Gone. His wife's e-bike that was literally 2X the street value was left there. Some riding acquaintances had their garage broken in to and $6K+ of bikes and tools stolen.

All those thefts--none were ever recovered. The garage break in was particularly creepy--because someone clearly had staked out the garage and only took what was valuable.
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Old 04-20-19, 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
Was he actually caught with all 3 bikes + CCD footage?

He can always change his plea later, but our system makes it so that one must start with a "Not Guilty" plea, otherwise there is nothing that one can do but go with the system.
A defendant may always plead guilty at the first arraignment. If the case is a felony, the case is sent to the Probation Dept. for a sentencing report. This is done to assist the court in determining a sentence.

This happens all the time.
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Old 04-20-19, 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by eja_ bottecchia
A defendant may always plead guilty at the first arraignment. If the case is a felony, the case is sent to the Probation Dept. for a sentencing report. This is done to assist the court in determining a sentence.

This happens all the time.
Not if the defendant has a lawyer or a brain in his head. You generally plead not guilty, then start the bargaining.
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Old 04-20-19, 06:11 PM
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Originally Posted by katsup
I wonder if this bike will become valuable in 20+ years due to this story.

I'm saying no. Just guessing
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Old 04-20-19, 08:25 PM
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Not if the defendant has a lawyer or a brain in his head. You generally plead not guilty, then start the bargaining.
Come to my arraignment court and you will see how it really works.

Be well and Happy Easter.
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Old 04-21-19, 10:02 AM
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Originally Posted by eja_ bottecchia
Come to my arraignment court and you will see how it really works.

Be well and Happy Easter.
You too on the kind wishes.

In the courts I practice in the straight up guilty plea at the arraignment is a relative rarity, and virtually never happens if there's a defense attorney. In felony cases, it's actually usually an impossibly because the cases are arraigned in District Court, which doesn't have authority to accept a guilty plea (Superior Court does), this is a NH oddity.

I suspect we're both giving the correct answer for the jurisdiction we are in.
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Old 04-21-19, 10:50 AM
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Seeing as how high profile this theft was and all the attention it's getting I'm sure we'll see some followup in the next couple of months. I'll be following it.
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Old 04-21-19, 06:30 PM
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Totally thought this was an onion article.
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Old 04-22-19, 08:18 AM
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Now thats the best news I heard this week!
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