My Son's Bike Was Stolen and I'm Mad

I dunno... I think if I were a bike stealing kid, it would be easier to store/hide it in a garage, not in a tiny apartment or on a tiny patio. Just a thought - you might be looking in the wrong place.

Does grandma still have the receipt?

If so, I would call the police if you spot the bike. With the receipt in hand and police on the way, I bet the kid fesses up. But you also have to wonder about the parents. I know I would be looking for an owner if my kid came home with a new bike!

Well, your being mighty presumptuous. You don't know the kid came from the "not so nice" complex, do you? Do you really think theft doesn't happen in your "nice" neighborhood? Theft happens everywhere. Why would you only look in the complex, and not also the neighborhood?

You know, if the police can't do anything...neither can you. So you see a kid riding the same bike. You take it? He can file a report on YOU, since you have no proof it's yours. You threaten him? harass him?There is nothing you can do. Get him a new bike, and a bike LOCK...and teach him how to use it. They were made for a reason. Lesson learned, he needs to keep better track of important items, and lock them up.

You're really stuck. You need to accept that the bike is gone. It may well be that the thief is from the family-friendly side of town and not the "not-so-nice" area. People are hurting financially everywhere despite outward appearances, and there is also a growing sense of entitlement (I like it, I want it, it's mine). If the bike has no serial number, you cannot prove that someone riding a similar bike is the thief. If you accost another child, you're breaking the law. You can try to report that to the police but by the time they find the kid and interview him/her, the kid will have ditched the bike.

Chalk it up to experience, and buy your son a good bike lock that he can use to chain the bike to a tree, a bike rack, a bench, or (not as ideal) the other bike. Turn your energy into feeling badly for someone who wanted a bike so badly that he/she decided to steal it, and take precautions going forward. Use it as a lesson for your son about why stealing is so bad.

I had this happen and I could not prove it was ours so we had to take a lose.

My question is, where are this kids parents (the one who stole the bike). dont they question when he comes home wiht a newer bike and they didnt buy it? If they do live in the apt complex, I am certain they have no garage so it is likely in their living room, patio/balcony or the kids room so they HAVE to notice it. What is wrong with some parents nowadays??

I dare my kid to come home with something expensive that we did not purchase and say he found it, or a friend gave it to him, those dont work in our home! I am furious right along with you!!

I think you're stuck, unfortunately. And I think it's crappy. But, how do you know the "not so nice" people took it and not someone from your "nice" neighborhood? We live in a "nice" neighborhood and there are plenty of kids/teens that are ill-behaved and would steal in a minute.

I think you just have to buy a new one, with a lock, and tell your son to use it every time he rides it.

I'm sorry this happened. It's completey unfair to your son and sucks big time, but because you have no proof it is yours (unless gma has the receipt??) I think the police are right. You can't go hunt down someone who might have the same kind of bike your son had and take it from them.

Well this happened to my son a few years ago, but he was 14 at the time, much older than your son. My son paid several hundred dollars for his bike, which is a stunt bike. Anyway, so he HAD to get it back. He just staked out the park, and once he saw that bike, he beelined it over to the kid and started yelling at him, and the kid dropped the bike and ran. I don't suggest that your son do this since he is so young, but maybe you can go with him, because if the police can't do much, i'd do anything I could short of hurting the kid who took it. Do you have pictures of your son on his bike, so you can prove that it is his? Or does his grandma have a receipt? If you find it, take your son to Walmart and get him a bike chain. I think he has probably learned his lesson already. Hope you get it back.

Without proof the bike belongs to you there is little you can do to get it back if they claim it is theirs. If your son saw the kid he can identify him to the police mind you. Not sure I would put my kids through that for a bike.

My older son had his brand new, like he never rode it, bike stolen his first day of college. I said, well you should have put the lock on it. He always said if he finds the kid on his bike he would "take um down", not sure what he meant by that, but he never did. So he had to walk around campus, oh the horror.

You might be able to do something but have to be careful how you handle it. Depends on how the parents of this kid are. One of our neighbors kids bikes was stolen by a kid from a couple of blocks down. He told his parents his friend was selling his bike for $30. his parents gave him the money to "buy" the bike. Well, my neighbor saw the kid riding the bike. They watched where he went and went to talk to the parents. The parents gave the bike back and the kid got grounded--plus had to do work for the $30 they gave to buy the bike. I know this because my kids found out at school. But if the parents say that "yeah, we bought him the bike" you're kind out of luck.

I just remembered that we had an incidence in my area, not far from you really, where some guys were knocking kids off their bikes and stealing them. I have not registered ours with the police but we have been using acrylic craft paint to put marks inside the chain well or under the bike frame so that if they do get stolen we could ID them. Of course, registering them might help as well.

That sucks. I remember my brother bought an old BMX bike as a teenager and worked for months to fix it up, buying the new parts himself with a part time job. A week or two after he finished, some a-hole stole it right out of our garage. He is still pissed about that 20 years later ;0) Hope you are able to get it back.

And oh yes, why would you think that the thief came from the "not so nice" apartments? Of course you would assume that. Cause that is real life. 95% of the time it IS the kid from the not so nice appartments. Just the same as I would assume that my 90 year old grandma won't be the one to hijack the plane, but TSA will search her and not the 20 year old man from Iraq, just so they can be "fair". But at least no ones feelings will be hurt.

I understand your anger. When something is stolen, one feels violated.

Go down to the police station and pick their brains. There may be a way of reclaiming the bike if you see it, or there may not. If there isn't (because the bike wasn't registered), you just chalk that up to experience and go from there. (And you check to see if your insurance will cover the loss of the bicycle.)

It's not a good idea to decide who did it before you know for sure. The apartment dwellers might not be housing the thief. Some kid from a nice family may have seen the bike, thought, "I always wanted that kind!", and taken it. Happens all the time.

When your son has a bicycle again, along with the helmet accessory you will get a good, sturdy lock-and-chain accessory. It's too bad that you'll have to teach an eight-year-old how to lock his bike every time, but that's the kind of world it is.

your title made me think of our event over the weekend:

my son's vintage Camaro was smeared w/ condiments & keyed....& I'm mad!

whether it's theft or vandalism, being a victim arouses our emotions. So sorry to hear of your son's loss. Find a way to prove the bike is yours....the receipt, a photo, etc.

as for our situation, my son's car was one out of about 10 in our small town. Most of the victims are teenagers who happened to have their cars on the street....only 2 were in driveways. No sport/club connection between these kids....just happen to live all in the same area. Sucks.

If you see the kid riding the bike you can stop him and ask for the bike back. You are not allowed to touch him or the bike while he is on it. If he refuses tell him you are calling his parents and the police. Usually that will scare them enough to hand the bike over.

We've had 4 bikes stolen.
1 we saw an older kid riding, and when we saw him put it down on the edge of the street and walk into a house, we took it back.
The other 3 we found sitting outside a house, against the house. We sat in our car and called the police who came took our statement and then went to talk to the owners of the house. The kids of the house told the parents that they had found the bikes on the side of the road with no one around. Don't know if that is true or not, they were in our driveway in front of our house when they were stolen. The cops told them he was taking the bikes back and then motioned for us to approach the house, verify the bikes and then take possession.

Your story reminds me that we need to register my son's bike at the local police station. Sorry this happened to your son.

You could put up signs near the apt complex and the field where they were about stolen bike. Go to the store where it was bought and take a picture.

Someone might call you to tell you who has it.

I guess I would call the police if I saw another kid riding it.... however, I think I would just leave this be.

I would get him a new bike, a lock, and register the new bike, along with putting your name/address inside the handlebars (I have heard you can remove the rubbery part and stick a rolled up note inside, so it can be proven that it's yours.)

It's a case of live and learn. Let your anger about this go-- it's infuriating, but serving no purpose, and you can't prove it was stolen by someone in the "poor" complex unless you actually see it. You're putting a lot of negativity out there for your son to see, as well as judging people that you don't know. It's just as likely that someone in the rich neighborhood stole it. Someone can feel entitlement just as well as they can feel envy.

Do you have a picture of your son riding the bike? That could be some proof. You really can't do much aside from possibly approaching the parents of the child. DO NOT APPROACH THE CHILD without the parents present.

There's not much you can do in this case. I would STRONGLY suggest that when you purchase the new bike (assuming you will), also buy a bike lock. They are relatively inexpensive and will keep this from happening again. I didn't know that you could register a bike (great idea), so make sure that you do so with the new one!

You might think about getting tricky on this one... It looks like you filed a report with the police, who told you there wasn't much they could do. But if you have a picture of the bike, or at least a picture of the model of bike, you might put up some flyers that say "Bike Stolen, reward for return" or something to that effect. I am willing to bet the kid who took it will come for the "reward", or the kid's sibling will.
You might want to be clever on what your "reward" would be. But I would not be surprised if the bike came back.

You're assuming it was a "little brat" that took the bike but it very well could have been an adult that stole it. Why haven't you called the police?

I didn't see you mention it but did you call the police immediately?? The first thing you should've done was call the police & reported it immediately. They could've at least maybe had been able to possibly catch who took it rather than just looking for it yourself which may've taken up precious time that the police might've had to their advantage.

If you hadn't yet, call the police!! Report it stolen. If you have any photos of your son on his bike or the bike itself, give the police copies of the photos so they'll know what to look for. If Grandma bought the bike, she may still have a receipt or paperwork on it, ask her or see where she bought it & maybe the store has a record they can provide to you.

You can't prove 'who' took the bike. You may see a kid that just happens to have the same bike so it may be prudent to first remember if there's any distinguishing marks on the bike to make sure it's your son's bike before approaching any kid. If you see a kid that looks like the one who may've stolen the bike, try to follow him & see where he goes then inform the police first. I'd refrain from approaching the kid yourself as you may not get anywhere, kids who take things most of the time lie to get out of trouble so it'd really be best to work w/the police.

Also, you can post photos of the bike & post them around town & see if anyone responds. Hope this helps, good luck!