[Closed] Stolen bike GPS shows location - WWSTD

I'd be popping down there, ideally with a mate!

Phone the police, tell them you're going down for a look. Take a mate.

They've probably flogged the Garmin in the pub for a tenner. You'd have to be a pretty stupid thief to not notice a Garmin computer on the bike.

They’d have to have shifted the Garmin quick on a Sunday but possible. Maybe will tell the police I’m heading down en route. Will have to be solo though, I am a pretty big wimp btw

Whereabouts? Might be able to get some internet hardmen off here to help you out 🙂

I like the sound of rounding up a posse, STW justice in action 😀

Low-key is my chosen approach though

(If I don’t ever reply either I’ve been murdered or decided to not go but I will update if I make it, my expectations are pretty low)

I would phone the police , ask to speak to a supervisor, tell them yiu have the exact location of your bike , and ask them what they are planning to do to get it back, if they say nothing tell them your are going down with some friends to get it back yiurself, don’t forget to get the officers name

If you’re going over there, make sure you go suitably equipped…

😂

Take your camera, take a shot of a suspect, call 999 and say you've just shot the person who stole your bike.

OP,What you need is a van,some rope and a special set of skills 😉

I’d give the police a ring again, say your bike has been stolen, where it is and that you are on your way to get it. Up to them if they want to come with you.

Take a few friends with you.

Tell them that you just remembered that the frame was stuffed with drugs and you think it might have been stolen by the angry cartel members but now the trigger beacon has gone off they have 12 hours to respond before you send in 'the boys' to get your gear back.

Genuine question - How much is the bike worth?
Might be worth pointing out to the Police officer that if he had something of £X,000's stolen how would he want the Police to respond?

What part of the UK/ World are you?

TBF I would pitch up with a bunch of mates to chat with the people in the warehouse. If nobody home/ no response furthe calls to the poilce would be in order. Lots of them.

Letting the other units know why you are there might put some pressure on the scrats and disrupt them a bit but I doubt that it would stop the problem. The scroats know where you live?

Thanks for the responses.

I’m in London and the Garmin is/was in West Sussex.

Dialling 111 feels like a call centre, not sure how much the call handlers can escalate and low priority has been mentioned a few times plus it’s been a 45 plus minute wait in a queue to talk to said non-police person. The Met 101 person said to call Sussex police to give the address but they weren’t interested and said the Met needed to pass on the info.

I guess the police need to prioritise their diminished resources and though the bike is worth £3k, it’s not someone being beaten up or with mental health needs which should be a priority so maybe a bit of self serve will have to do.

I’ll see if I can get some company and obvs have the Bombers as backup 😀

Go locate the bike, ring the police and say you have found your bike and ‘you think’ the guy with the bike has a knife.

Police will be there in 5 mins.

You’d have to be a pretty stupid thief

Most are though, aren't they.....

‘you think’ the guy with the bike has a knife.

Police will be there in 5 mins.

You've not seen today's news then (BBC link)

That same month, he was beaten up outside his house, an attack that was filmed on CCTV. Mr Argent says he rang 999 after being assaulted but it took three days for Greater Manchester Police to visit and speak to him. Police inaction, he feels, emboldened the gang.

A victim of domestic violence who was assaulted by an ex-partner in front of her children, aged 2 and 4, and says she was told no-one could visit her until the following morning. The man returned later that eveningA stalking victim whose home officers failed to attend despite repeated visits by her stalker, which included death threats

It's a tough one

Part of me says get a car load together and go n see them but it's high risk plus they broke into your house so they know where you live.

I think I'd turn up and call the police and advise there's going to be trouble

Best say a gun then!

I think I’d turn up and call the police and advise there’s going to be trouble

So assuming they turn up, what's the odds you end up being pinched for assault/breach of the peace etc and the potential thief walks away scot-free?

The only sensible thing to do is report it, accept it as gone and leave well alone. The chances of it ending anything other than badly of you try getting more involved are very slim indeed.

It's crap but the fact is your bike or mine is not in any way a priority for the police.

is not in any way a priority for the police.

Obviously not if all available officers on West Sussex are actively involved in dealing with murder/rape and another similarly serious crimes, which is unlikely - I'm sure West Sussex can't be that bad.

Having £3k worth of property stolen is a legitimate crime for the police to investigate, especially if they are provided with useful evidence.

I might have a drive round there just to see if it's the sort of place your bike might be or just that some has chucked a Garmin in a skip somewhere.

Don't think I'd approach anyone though

Well, I'm only a small chap who doesn't like getting hurt, but I'm possibly closish (Reigate area), and gladly come along for support/help/numbers if you want - I've had too many bikes nicked. Even getting the Garmin back and concerning the "innocent purchaser" would a modest win.

I had a p7 stolen from my flats doorway a few years ago. Bought a replacement. That was stolen, 18m later, and in searching for that on Ebay, my original bike appeared. So I won the auction, went round and picked it up. Didn't pay for it. I was just incandescent, and told the guy I wasnt leaving without it, and if that meant calling the Police, that was his decision. Also handy I had my purchase receipt, and photos, which showed the same (broken) bike lock shakle and dealer stickers.

Having £3k worth of property stolen is a legitimate crime for the police to investigate,

Of course, but so are all the other things they have to do. It'll wait its turn. It's not urgent. By then the skip the garmin is in will have been emptied and they won't have wasted an hour or two to go looking in a bin on an industrial estate.

What are the odds that your bike is in amongst a motherload of other stolen bikes from the surrounding area? If it's an organized bunch it's well worth the rozzers while to investigate.

Put in the complaint email in now though. Make it clear you have given them (most likely time sensitive) information that they should have followed up on, as they haven't you are left with no recourse but to carry on doing their jobs for them and Investigate further yourself, you will be taking your mate Steve who has an orange belt in judo and a sock full of loose change. When you and steve bust an organized bike theft ring you will give a full account, including details of the sub-standard police response, to the local rag and the Mail.

CC the local PCC, police ombudsman and your MP...

So assuming they turn up, what’s the odds you end up being pinched for assault/breach of the peace etc and the potential thief walks away scot-free?

virtually nil. Only if you got ott with a beating.

Of course, but so are all the other things they have to do. It’ll wait its turn. It’s not urgent.

Where's the bit that the police have said it needs wait it's turn because they only deal with urgent issues?

I once located the power tools which had been stolen from the boot of my car the day before for sale in a shop that sells second hand tools.

I immediately went to Croydon police station which at time was the busiest police station in the Met (it probably still is) and informed them. I had to hang around for about an hour waiting for a couple of police officers to become available (it was a very busy Saturday afternoon) and went with them in a police car to the shop where they took possession of my stolen power tools (a Hitachi circular saw and Elu compound mitre saw). After forensic had checked them for fingerprints they were returned to me.

There are plenty of serious crimes going on in Croydon and my power tools were worth less than half the value of the OP's bike, but the police were still prepared to help me. Obviously I managed to convince them that I knew exactly where my stolen property was located but they could have still used the "it's not urgent" excuse.

pack a few things and a mate or 3 and get round there for a look. Youll have no idea what to do until you see the place
Then make your mind up

How has the Garmin sent it's location? Surely it has to be connected to Garmin connect, or to a known wi-fi network as it doesn't have it's own data link.

So is someone using the Garmin, syncing to their own Garmin connect but it's still somehow showing on the OPs? Or is the location just where OP finished their last ride?

The Met 101 person said to call Sussex police to give the address but they weren’t interested and said the Met needed to pass on the info.

This would do my nut in. How the buggery can an aggrieved victim be expected to know, execute, manage and manipulate the process?

"Is there anything else I can help you with today?" 🤬

## Update ##

So I went down and probably unsurprisingly it was a anticlimax, more Antiques Roadshow than Snatch. The business park is occupied by a high end furniture company with showroom, workshops and a visitors car park which is where the GPS dot was showing so I’d guess this was a handover point before someone did something to the Garmin.

Glad I went, I’m now resigned to never seeing the bike again and it would have always bugged me if I hadn’t gone.

Sorry it’s so dull, I was almost hoping for a fairground scrap but thanks for the input. Police have actually been surprisingly active about the burglary itself. Will consider AirTags but even if you know where the bike is, it’s maybe not quite so simple to retrieve.

Back to the shadows!

and the potential thief walks away scot-free?

Or Scot-free but with a broken nose, cheekbone and several ribs.

Cctv in the car park and buildings?
Getting hold of a hard copy might be tricky as people go all wobbly and claim gdpr nonsense. Protecting the rights of criminals tp go about their business.
Ypu may get lucky with some registration numbers.
Police probably still won't do anything about it mind.
Wjen they revist in 6mths time to steal your insurance replacement you should have some security in place though

There's a possibility you've found a location where the hand-offs occur before the bike heads in the direction of a shipping container. Most local pond life will use the same locations for their deals as they are 'safe' places. Shame the police haven't got the resources to take that information with a little more interest.

Obviously not if all available officers on West Sussex are actively involved in dealing with murder/rape and another similarly serious crimes, which is unlikely – I’m sure West Sussex can’t be that bad.

Have you ever been to Crawley?

Have you ever been to Crawley?

Yes I have worked in Crawley. I don't recall witnessing any murders or rapes or other serious crimes. I have no reason to believe that crime levels are any higher there than in Croydon, aka Stab City.

I do remember on one occasion dropping and losing my keys after popping down to the shops in Crawley, and after frantically walking up and down the street looking for them in an act of sheer desperation asking in a shop that I hadn't even been into only to discover that a passerbyer had handed them in there. That day I was particularly impressed and grateful by civic honesty of a random stranger in Crawley.

Mind you it suffers from the new town shit-hole syndrome.