Two weeks ago, a wronged Northwest cyclist made headlines when he sought bike-justice. When Jake Gillum of Portland Oregon found that his $2,500 custom blinged-out bike had been stolen, he jumped on Craigslist and scoured locations across the Northwest, determined to hunt down the thief and his two-wheel love. Encapsulated in a nine-minute video, Gillum's chase took him to Seattle -- the "land of the stolen bicycle" -- where he confronted and pursued (both on bike and foot) thief Craig Ackerman. Justice is finally achieved when Seattle PD swings by, questions, and cuffs Ackerman for trafficking stolen goods -- a class B felony in the beautiful state of Washington.
[Video courtesy of li nui via Youtube]
The lesson here is not just the age-old mantra that grandma spoke of while finger-wagging -- that stealing is bad. Rather, Gillum makes three very important points that bike thieves -- especially when in or coming to Seattle -- that should dissuade prospective bike pilferers.
1. There really is an app for everything. Including stealth ones that allow justice-seekers to successfully conduct sting operations armed with just an IPhone.
2. Bikes are like babies to Pacific Northwesterners in their 20s. Steal their clothes, their car, their money, but thieves be damned if they rob a novelty hat, jort-wearing man of his custom-designed bike -- his environmentally-friendly, two-wheel pride and joy.
3. Sellers of stolen bike-goods in Seattle will be caught. In other words, not one, but two members of Seattle PD in two separate cop cars will show up if called about such matters, will not laugh in the caller's face, and will actually make an arrest. (Truth be told, we were not and would not have been surprised if the slurry of sirens -- at minute 7:20 -- were called for "backup" for this citizen-organized sting-op.)
· Vigilante Justice of the Day: Interstate Bike Thief Sting [The Atlantic Cities]
· Bike Thief Gets Owned! Aug 14th 2012 [Youtube]
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