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"The married engineer, who is in his 30s, and has been quietly tracking down stolen bikes for the last year, spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity
by dkopi 10y ago
"The married engineer, who is in his 30s, and has been quietly tracking down stolen bikes for the last year, spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity amid increasing curiosity about his identity, motives and methodology."
I'm guessing the main reason he wants anonymity isn't from criminals, but from his family, who would obviously kill him if they knew how much danger he's putting himself into.
- have_faith 10y agoI'm surprised he let them publish a photo of him at all, the sunglasses aren't going to stop people recognising him.
- CapitalistCartr 10y agoPlus the article mentions he's a "married engineer, who is in his 30s", a bicycling enthusiast, and six feet, four inches tall. That, combined with the photo, is a pretty thorough description.
- jldugger 10y agoAssuming that's true, or the photo is legit.
- munificent 10y ago> "married engineer, who is in his 30s", a bicycling enthusiast, and six feet, four inches tall. That, combined with the photo, is a pretty thorough description. Not here in Seattle, it isn't!
- gumby 10y agoLuckily for him it's unlikely bike thieves are reading the guardian or, I hope, HN.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- 2muchcoffeeman 10y agoIs it really though? Sometimes I don't recognise people I see regularly because I'm only used to seeing them in specific contexts. The photo here isn't that clear and he's wearing quite large sunglasses. If we put him in jeans, without the glasses and off a bike I'm pretty sure no one who's read the article could pick him out.
- usrusr 10y agoWon't help thieves recognize his online identity as a potential buyer. Once he is actually confronting them there really is not much difference between "random guy accusing me of selling a stolen bike" and "damn it's the bicycle batman, accusing me of selling a stolen bike".
- upofadown 10y agoA guy out stealing bikes is going to do everything they possibly can to avoid getting in a fight with someone. There is simply no profit in it for such low stakes.
- omginternets 10y agoYou're assuming thieves are acting rationally.
- na85 10y agoThey are. They're choosing the rational response when balancing a low-risk, high-reward activity such as bicycle theft.
- x0x0 10y agoAnd yet... A friend was walking in soma watching a video on his iphone. He noticed someone peering over his shoulder; the dude grabbed the iphone and took off. My friend chased him, and this is where it gets interesting. The thief, instead of outrunning my friend and/or just dropping the phone, punched my friend. My friend plus a bystander who saw the punch ended up chasing the thief down. SF police don't give a fuck less about a stolen iphone, but that punch? The thief is doing 2-4 years.
- lostlogin 10y agoThis isn't a good thing - even if the thief serves half that there is no scenario where that outcome is a net benefit to society. However this view of mine may be venturing too far into politics.
- steve19 10y agoI think it's good that as a society we do not lock people up for years for stealing a phone. But I would love to hear from you what we should do of the people who commit assault? What is a woman was punched? or a minority (because they were a minority)? Do you honestly believe that prison for assault does not deter would be assaulters?
- loeg 10y agoBike thieves are hardly organized criminals with weapons. Probably mostly homeless or very poor people without better ideas. It's a very low margin crime.
- snowwindwaves 10y agoIn British Columbia there is organized bike theft. The police caught a group of thieves who had rented a cube van and driven up to whistler from Vancouver and stolen half a dozen bikes. One of the bikes was a police "bait bike" with a tracking device. The Mounties care! http://globalnews.ca/news/785241/bait-bike-leads-whistler-police-to-bust-alleged-thieves/ http://globalnews.ca/news/785241/bait-bike-leads-whistler-po...
- vostrocity 10y agoMaybe not organized, but usually specialized. To steal a bike, you need a set of tools (like a modified car jack http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/10/your-u-lock-is-basically-worthless-but-dont-worry/381818/ http://www.citylab.com/navigator/2014/10/your-u-lock-is-basi...) and knowledge of where to sell the parts.