Man sees his stolen bike on Craigslist, steals it back [View all]

[Liberal_in_LA]

Man sees his stolen bike on Craigslist, steals it back

Danny Lesh admits he’s a vigilante. But on Bike to Work Day, he’s a hero to bikers everywhere.

The Washington, D.C., man told DCist and local TV stations his bike was stolen, then posted for sale on Craigslist. Lesh says he responded to the ad, took his own bike for a “test ride,” and drove off with it. A spoke for a spoke, so to speak.

Lesh said his Cannondale was locked up with a cable lock on a friend’s porch when it was stolen Sunday. The next day, it was for sale for $100 on Craigslist (he says he bought it for $600 in 1998). Lesh says he was able to ID the bike through a unique sticker.

He called the number on the ad and arranged a meeting. On the way over in a cab, he called the police, but they declined to send an officer to the meeting. So Lesh just handled it himself. He says a man walked out of an alley with the bike, they haggled over the price, Lesh took the bike for the test ride, threw it in the trunk of the cab, and left.

He’s since taken more action, posting Craigslist ads about other bikes being sold by a person with the same phone number. He links to ads that have all been taken down, meaning the thief has sold the bikes or been caught. Hopefully the latter.

http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2012/05/10/man-sees-his-stolen-bike-on-craigslist-steals-it-back/