A few years back, down in Delray Beach, FL, a guy tried to steal my bicycle off of our screened porch early one morning. I had it out there for just a day and "wouldn't ya know".
I got a really good look at him as I was home at the time and peered through the blinds when I heard sounds on the porch. A really nice cop arrived in 5 mins., and word about the bike had already gone out such that, by the time the cop got to me, he was in radio contact with a patrolling squad car that had spotted the thief riding my bike down the road.
We all converged on the guy's residence (he was known to local cops), with me hunkered down in the backseat of the squad car, just like in the movies. I made my ID, a cop brought over the bike and stuck it in the trunk, and back to my house we went. As I was filling out my portion of the report, the nice cop picked up one of our guitars and started playing it. It all happened in a matter of an hour. Surreal.
Not long after, I was went for deposition by a very diligent (and cute
I must add) State's Atty. He was bound and determined the thief was going to do as much time as possible. While the public defender who was present at the depo brought up the chain of evidence mistake (returning the bike to me), he conceded that it was a no-win situation. I was advised that this had to do with my id-ing the thief within 30 mins of the incident, articulating very well, willingness to testify, yada yada.
I was not worried about retrobution as the Atty told me it was very doubtful that the thief would remember where he was when he stole the bike, as the guy was very, very jacked up at the time and we were in an apt. complex where everything sort of looks alike.
The thief was on probation after previously doing time for selling crack. The State's Atty got the charge bumped up to Breaking and Entering an Occupied Dwelling (as opposed to Occ. Structure). Don't you know, that thief did 3 years!!! He was sentenced to 5, if I recall correctly. THREE YEARS, for stealing my $100 bike while on probation.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
