MacGyver Quiz

And was he sure it was his bike? I ask because I knew somebody who did something similar with a guitar.

His guitar was stolen and a similar guitar turned up in the window of a secondhand shop a few days later. He went into the shop asked to look at the guitar and played a few licks. Satisfied that it was his guitar he asked if he could look at it outside the dingy shop to check the finish. The shopkeeper agreed and our hero(?) ran from the shop doorway to a friend's waiting car and took off. The friend received a visit from the police later that same day, obviously the shopkeeper had clocked the registration.

As a result of this the police paid a call to the main protagonist of this tale. Turns out it wasn't the same guitar. The shopkeeper could produce not only proof that the instrument in question had been in his shop for some weeks, but that he had all the paperwork for it including tags (with serial number) and the original sales receipt (with serial number).

Our hero did not know the serial number of his instrument and indeed when he managed to find the original sales receipt as evidence for the police he discovered that it was different from the one he'd stolen. Luckily for him the police and the shopkeeper were pretty understanding and he got nothing more than a stern talking to and had to apologize in person to the shop keeper.

AND THIS IS WHY COPS ARE USELESS WASTES OF OUR $$!

Taking possession of something that belongs to you is not stealing.

A similar thing happened to me a few years after I moved to Brooklyn. My husband and I tracked the thief to BedStuy through Craigslist and convinced him over the phone to turn down a sale so we could buy it. Turns out he was knowingly buying stolen bikes from kids and fixing them up. Anyway, I asked for a test ride and rode off. My husband stayed and explained that I wasn't coming back. Guy got real apologetic but then told my hubby that if he wanted, he could pay him to make up for his loss! Haha. Cops had no desire to help either. This was small potatoes to them.

Well Played!

Also Cops are useless.

I once saw my girlfriend's stolen bike locked outside a restaurant. I grabbed it, walked it home, cut off the new lock, and returned it to my girlfriend.

Poetic justice, and a good way to get shot.

Great story.

Bike thieves should be shot!

Did something like that once myself. I think I was 10, however, and chained it to a metal pole. Not quite sure how the other kid felt when he found out his dad stole my bike to give to him.