I sooo wanna high five this guy!!! Love the story!

This is sooooooo cool...and, so typical of cops...they are absolutely fabulous at telling you what NOT to do...as they sit at their local Dunkin Donuts....hahahaha....look at America, vigilanteism is in vogue because that is the only way the average joe or jill will get justice

If he really wanted to get even with this guy who stole his bike..when the crook told him he will call the police..he should of gave him a story why he rode off with it (like got emergency cell phone call)..then tell the crook he will buy it still for $100 and meet him some place ( while the police be waiting to arrest the crook)....I would of done it that way.

Worst part of this story is..the bike owner replied to the craigslist ad with his email address and gave his phone number to the crook..should use a fake email address from Yahoo,gmail,hotmail etc. and just ask to meet some place to see the bike..never give out phone number for a reply back.

Cool story, poor writing skills. "easily cut by a theft" would that be theaf? Not sure myself but not the former. It was not stealing back just a repo done very well.........

thief

Thanks Mike, computer fried brain.......

Good for him, nice to see the good guys win now and then.

I would recommend to the bike owner that he no longer lend out the bike to friends who will not treat the bike as he would. For getting the bike back as he did: SWEET!!!

Back in the 70's my bicycle was also stolen in Minneapolis, Mn but someone did see my bike around a mile from my home at the time and when I went to check it out, my mother had called the police dept and they met me where the bike had been found. It was on someone's front porch, even though I had a city bicycle license on it and all the proof it was mine, All the Mpls cop asked me to do was to unlock the cable lock around the seat! Which I did as it was my lock and when it opened he said there you go you got your bike back. They police never contacted anyone in the house about why the bike was on there front porch. Times haven't really changed much at all.

The police dept didn't arrest anyone for the theft of my bicycle and they really didn't care who owned it even though I had all the proof. Guess the police are there for only crimes they want to enforce. A thief is a thief no matter what they steal and should be held accountable or they will continue with more crimes.

@Seven2Seven:

"Cool story, poor writing skills. "easily cut by a theft" would that be theaf(sic)?"

No, it would be a thief. Fail.

LOL GOOD FOR DANNY LESH!

I also think that it is absolutely hilarious that the thief threatened to call the cops!

Screw thieves!

should have taken the broken bike chain and hit him with it.. just so he knows.. good one!!!

If the cops don't want you to become a vigilante then perhaps they need to respond when there is a time concern. Once that bike was sold, the seller certainly wouldn't have to disclose who bought it and there would be no way to prove it was your bike. Good for this man, the person that stole it ought to be hung upside down by his toes for a day.

A friend of mine was moving when someone stole her lawnmower and then decided to put it up for sale a neighborhood away. They called the police who came and did nothing to the man who claimed it was a 5 year old kid that did it, but at least she got her lawnmower back. This day and age it's easy to get aggravated when it seems the police are sitting on their thumbs doing nothing to a person who steals from you. I don't blame this man in the slightest.

muddiemike-Good story, happy ending. However...if the cops arrested, and we prosecuted, every bike thief, petty shoplifter, loud neighbor or tiny, two bit lawbreaker our police and court system would suffer a major meltdown. This at a time when seemingly every American has decided they don,t want to pay the taxes for the system we have even now. And when somebody gets murdered while the police are running in a bike thief?? You would hear the screams around the country.

Am I the only one that thinks this was a dumb thing to do? The thief has his phone number, knows what he looks like, and now has his name. The bike is over ten years old - just doesn't seem worth it to me considering the thief could be in a gang or had a gun. Then to go to the news and brag about ripping a criminal off...he's asking for it.

Not if that state has a Castle Law.

I'm surprised the police did not arrest the original owner. That is their mentality.

When I was in college there was one particular house near the university that always had a number of bikes chained to a metal rail in the front yard. All of the bikes were for sale for $20, and they were all stolen from across the street at the universities bike racks.

Everyone knew that if you came back from class and your bike was gone, you had to go get $20 and pay this guy, but no one ever did anything about it. Sometimes when I'm nearby I drive past that house and still see the row of bikes out front for sale...

XD @ JColorado.

This was in DC. Following this article, the police will arrest the guy and throw him in prison for 5 years for stealing his own bike back for some gang banger.

Right On!!! Good job getting the bike back.

As for the police being too busy? This is what happens when you keep cutting budgets and taxes that pay for essential services, like police and firefighters. If you want a cop or a firefighter when you need them, then you better accept higher taxes.

I wonder if the lameass police ever bothered to go after the thief. I bet he has all kinds of loot stashed in his house.

Kind of makes one think the police are worthless in D.C. dosen't it?

Lovemymemes

When I was in college there was one particular house near the university that always had a number of bikes chained to a metal rail in the front yard. All of the bikes were for sale for $20, and they were all stolen from across the street at the universities bike racks.

Really? I can't believe no one took action on that turd. I would have sh!t bombed his place the night after I got my bike back the first time. If it happened again, I would escalate to paint guns or rocks.

Great job by the guy in the story. But, I sure wouldn't have given that bozo my phone # or my real email address. One I had the thief's info though, I would have done the same thing he did. And I would have tried to get a photo to post around town on the phone poles too.

As far as the cops arresting him for stealing it back, I doubt they could prove it. I'm sure he had plenty of pictures of himself on the bike over the years. Besides, unless you engrave your name on it somewhere, a bike is hard to prove ownership of without serial numbers, or photo's.



meh, cops are too busy beating and pepper spraying protesters to big money these days. theyve got people to taze.

good for this dude for dealing with it himself. its a common story. while your bike may be your dream, fun, livelihood or whatnot, to a cop it may as well be a bandaid.

Can we hire this guy to get all our money back that the government stole from us and generations to come? Just saying lets give hima real challenge.

Same thing happened with my friend's scooter. The thief posted it on craigslist, complete with photo. However, when my friend contacted them, they got spooked and wouldn't give the address where they were keeping the scooter. They stole it right off his front porch. The plan was to steal it back when he took it for a "test drive". I despise thieves.

Perhaps the police were handling other crimes that were more important...like assault...murder...and being in DC...isn't that one of the most crime ridden cities in the country? Beides, it states that the cops said they couldn't respond right now...it did not say they told him they weren't coming.

Don't be so quick to bitch about the cops.

As for blaming the friend he loaned it to...the article says his friend did lock it..

j7...you're a pathetic troll, I suspect...go spread your hatred somewhere else.

hey blue;

try reading the last sentence of my comment, then maybe go feel like an idiot...

I will admit j...I hadn't read that far. I apologize.

I had a bike stolen one time, I called the police they gave me the run around it's probably in the projects...well I went looking for my bike on my own and found it and rode it home. Pretty sad huh?

After finding his stolen bicycle for sale in a Craiglist ad, a Washington, D.C.-area man

Ya think?

Lesh called the police, who told him they wouldn't be able to respond right away

D.C. Police advise citizens against trying to recover stolen property on their own

Busy writing traffic tix. Cops are worthless.

We're getting it in both ends, people. Both cops and robbers want to make sure you're a victim!

Law enforcement is more concerned with fund raising than solving or preventing crimes. Time to take the fund raising out of law enforcement.

Concerned - It's MSNBC. What else can you expect?

I've read through the article twice and still see no mention of the city or town in which this occurred. A street corner is mentioned, but in what city? Great reporting!!!

D.C. Police - that was my clue it's in D.C.???

but im with you on the "theft"...it appears spell check hasnt completely made an editor obsolete.

Your expecting good grammar and usage from the ignorant interns that seem to run every company, including the MSNBC site, these days? (Yes, I used "your" deliberately -- just trying to make a point.)

Jessica - You are correct in that the article states, "D.C. Police advise citizens against trying to recover stolen property on their own..." However, the reporter didn't include that until the second to last sentence of the article. Since he never stated that the theft occurred in Washington, D.C., the reader has no way of knowing whether he was quoting police from the city in which the theft occurred or police from anywhere in the country who might be commenting on the incident.

My point is that we learned in elementary school that who, what, when, where and how should be included in any correctly written report. It simply astounds me how sloppy and irresponsible the writers at MSNBC are...day in, day out. I never see an article on their web page that doesn't have obvious spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. One would think that the writers would have a little bit of pride in their work. They are probably too distracted with playing Angry Birds.

Your expecting good grammar and usage from the ignorant interns...

Good one, General! Sadly, many Newsvine readers won't catch the joke.

While I agree that grammar and spelling errors like this are humorous and easy to make fun of, today's news outlets don't have the luxury of just putting out a paper once a day. It's a continuous stream of articles and ALL of the major news websites have a hard time putting each article through a proper editorial review (I've even seen similar mistakes on WSJ articles).

Wow! the most sane comment on this thread comes from The Lunatic! Perfect symmetry.

I find it insanely humorous that a lot of the comments have nothing to do with the article but instead are filled with complaints from elementary grammar teachers. In this case it was a glaring mistake and I have complained in the past but not usually for one word.

The fact that "who, what, when, where & why" weren't represented properly, not that's a complaint I can agree with. It is the combination of twitter and article, a twiticle if you will. Maybe a texticle except that can be easily misread.

I love to write although I will admit I am not the greatest but then you get what you pay for. If Richard Jordan is an intern then we shouldn't complain. If he is freelance we should be informed how much he was paid for a better understanding of his ability. If he is on the payroll, a change needs to be made.

BB, loved your new words, "Twiticle", "Texticle". I'm still laughing. I'd love to see those words go mainstream.

Since there seems to be a lot of grammar correction going on. This usage is also incorrect, "Your expecting good grammar and usage from the ignorant interns...", it should "You're" not "Your", since the implication by the content is "you are expecting..." and not ownership.

I also find it hilarious that people trying to correct others spelling and grammar gaffs really don't know how to write or spell either.

And back to the story; Way to go dude!

please read further - the use of "your" was intentional

scales67 - "After finding his stolen bicycle for sale in a Craiglist ad, a Washington, D.C.-area man executed a plan to steal the bike back. WRC-TV's Richard Jordan reports." It's near the top.

scales67 - "After finding his stolen bicycle for sale in a Craiglist ad, a Washington, D.C.-area man executed a plan to steal the bike back. WRC-TV's Richard Jordan reports." I found that under the photo at the top after searching for what seemed like an eternity (about 5 seconds).

It's a shame all the people who are so critical of the "MSNBC interns" are too dumb to even check who may have written the article.

The article was written by Richard Jordan of NBCWashington.com (part of WRC-TV, News 4).

From Maine to San Diego, big city cops do NOT investigate bicycle or cell phone thefts and they haven't for DECADES. This isn't news.

And Mr. Lesh did not STEAL his bike back. Stealing is unlawfully taking someone else's property. The bicycle belongs to Mr. Lesh, it was his property, therefore, he could not have stolen it. You can't steal your own property (unless your wife takes it when she leaves you, then you're fuct).

They didn't say they wouldn't help him. They said they couldn't respond immediately. You think they should drop all the serious crime to respond? Manpower is down twenty percent across the country so get used to it.

Maybe the next story is the owner is killed by the thief when he tries to ride off.

Scalzo:

Your absolutely right. 50 of them were down at the SEC protecting the regulators from the 25 wild and violent OSEC protesters.

Oh please, "manpower." When they DO respond it's 5 cop cars taking down one guy.

Considering that the guy had done all the leg work for them, all they really needed to do is say "Hey, we're going to put you in touch with the Sergent for that area. Setup a time to buy, and let us know. We'll have a patrol car near by, and they'll give you a cell number to call them on when you're ready to buy. Call the number, and we'll roll up and take him down."

If they can't respond immediately, then they could help setup a sting operation to take down a potential bike theft ring or a notorious thief. Instead, the guy went and got it on his own, so their window of opportunity has passed and unless the guy got a snap shot of the guy, they're out vital information.

skeptical-1619418, Not familiar with the term overwhelming force are you. A guy might try to take on one cop but not five. That way the only one hurt is the bad guy.

Each and every time I see a car pulled over by a cop around the area where I live, there's always at least one more, usually two or three, other cop cars there for "backup". Most of them appear to be just a standard traffic stop; speeding, illegal lane change, etc. IMO, if they need that much backup for a standard traffic stop for one person all of the time then either they are all such cowards they have to hunt in packs or they don't have enough to do and they're trying to make it look like they are necessary. It's f'ing ridiculous. The person will still be in their car and the officer that pulled them over will be in his/her squad car writing a ticket while the others stand around, with every light on every vehicle on, blocking a lane of traffic and slowing down vehicles from both directions causing a traffic jam. It's sort of like a road crew... One guy working while all of the others stand around having a gab fest and watch.

world...REALLY? And just what would you do if you had to come upon a car that has tinted windows? Or someone you are told may be wanted somewhere else? You have no idea if the person sitting behind the wheel has a gun they are hiding and pointed at you as you come upon them.

I will assume that you are intelligent enough to know that not all people cops pull over or deal with at all are nice...so figure it out and quit riding along the "I hate cops" train.

I passed a state trooper on a highway who apparently was the only one there and trying to talk to some guy who looked like he was getting pissed...I called 911 and told them that they might want to get some more down there.

Do you people even get it? Cops...both men and women...put their lives out on the line every day for people...and yes, there are some bad ones out there, but don't be so stupid to believe that means they are all like that.

You better hope you never need one to save your ass, or some one else's. Belive me, when you think you're going to die and you see those lights you will change your attitude.

The town isn't very big, maybe 8K people at the most. Residents there know most everyone and have lived there all their lives. I've recognized many of the people and trust me, they aren't worth the time of that many officers nor is there a necessity for all of them for those stops. I've even talked to a few soon after and found out they were pulled over for things like an illegal lane change or a break light being out. There are honestly just too many police for the area and apparently they just don't have enoughto do. If it is warranted then I have no problem with it but these cops do it for almost every stop made.

I'm not talking about calling the cops for some reason. I'm ONLY talking about every day traffic stops.

Wow , a minor theft charge that the courts will reduce to a Petty Thief and release him in a few minutes. Let's call out the SWAT team. Tell all those being assaulted or killed to wait while they put a team on this. Reduce manpower by 600 and this is what you get. Priorities determine response. Not a press release.

So instead, this guy should just swallow the loss and try to move on with his life while the thief continues to steal from the community at large. When does 100, 200, 500 thefts equal something significant enough for a cop to do something about it? And you are assuming the cop actually has something better to do. My money is on the probability that they don't want to deal with the paperwork, or, do not want to do THEIR JOBS.

He should have made the friend who lost it recover it.

...3 million bikes are stilen each year.

Bob - are they stilened by the same "theft" that stole this man's bike?