whats with Prince Rupert and bike thieves, so far we are down about 7 bikes, of which we recovered 3, all three recovered were taken by 10-12 yr old males, 2 lived on Atlin, and one on Graham, all three were smashed/scratched/mutilated almost beyond recognition. the last one I blundered apon locked up outside Ananciation School, it had been my daughters birthday present and had disappeared 2 weeks after she got it.
Well the kid who took it pleaded not guilty, his reasoning being that he had “found” the bike on Park Ave. trashed and abandoned. Well that didnt quite fit with it all, as I had personally biked/walked/hiked/climbed almost the entirety of the west side (and most of the east) the same day it went missing, and I had been searching for it for about 2 weeks straight (always looking out for the other bikes) and had found nothing, not to mention my kids and their friends play on Park/Kootney/Mckay every day, also, for a trashed/abandoned bike it looked pretty good, only the “girly” stickers and bell removed, and a large number of scratchs to the paint job, cracked pedals. Well, to make it better the police tell me the kids willing to give my daughters parts back, as long as we give him the parts he switched back to him…{shakes head}, sounded kinda like a burgler asking the home owner to trade his breakin tools for some of his own stuff back? the police went along with it, and setup a trade at the police station, aand the mother and kid showed up but wouldnt come inside {cowards?} no apology, not a tear shed for all her pain and my energy wasted, and her disappointment at coming home to yet another trashed bike. and oh ya, the friends of the kids started cursing and giving me and my friend the finger, average age of the kids involved was probably 10, I went over and said “Im not stealing this bike, it was stolen from my daughter, Im just getting it back, okey? its ours.” at which point a mother sitting in a van near the park yelled out at me “HEY YOU! DID YOU JUST THREATEN THOSE CHILDREN!!” well i hadnt, despite how angry I was, I held my tongue and didnt even raise my voice to anyone at the school, teacher/student/parent alike. From the feeling I got from the principle/teachers/parents, was while speedy, was a tad “ruthless” for lack of another word, and as far as I know, since we were denied a meeting with them, the kid was never punished. Which seems to follow the norm for PR when your dealing with RACE, you see, I got to witness a kid (near same age) that got caught with a stolen bike outside Extra, well this kid got put into the police car, and driven home, then after a talk with the parents he was driven down to the police station and then back home, which makes 3 trips in a police car for stealing a bike…the boy who took that bike was native, now compare that with what happened with the kid who took my daughters bike, he got to stay at school, go home with his mom, get the parts, drive down in their own car to the police station and home, without even seeing the people he had victimized. native boy = 3 police car trips + 2 face to faces with the bikes owners , white boy = none. the other 2 bikes i have recovered were, 1 small black norco, found outside Mikey"s Arcade, completely smashed, the thief was pointed out by some people who had seen him riding and smashing it, 10-12 year old white male, I contacted his parents/guardians regarding replacement of the bike, basically told “tough sh!t”, then a Purple girls Norco, found outside Charles Hays School, by the staff, in the middle of the 14-15 year old white male stomping on it, after having used it to ride to school, police make a “deal” with the kid and his mom, and the school, that nothing will happen to the kid if they pay for the repairs, and the police take the bike to Farwest, total cost of the repairs were 30 dollars more than what the bike was worth, so I called his house and he answered, and at one point he started talking about “finding me with some of his friends” so I not knowing the age of the person on the phone, invited him and his friends over, and gave him my address, at which point he must have started crying or something becuase his mother got on the phone and asked me what I was doing threatening a child, I replied “sorry mam, but from the way he was threatening me with him and his friends beating me up he sounded older”. needless to say they didnt pay for the repairs, the cops didnt do anything about it, and the bike was stolen again afterwards, and not seen since. The third bike was a white/blue mongoose, that one was taking about 2 months after she got it, and i found it again, repaired it myself, and it got taken again.
also my red norco pinnacle, just as I had fixed it up really nice, was taken outside west end resturant, and a blue/black norco, from outside our house.
- 12" black boys Norco
- 14" pink girls Norco
- 16" white/blue girls Mongoose
- 18" purple girls Norco
- 20" blue boys Sportek
- 20" white girls Norco
- 26" red mens Norco
- 26" black mens Norco
*Farwest take note of how many of those bikes on that list are Norco’s from your shop.
and thats just what I can remember off the top of my head, so far, I have yet to meet a parent that was in any way sorry for the trouble caused us. just to clear it up, not everyone involved was trouble, the police officers were very friendly, helpful, and compasionate even.