I was riding around this morning looking to see if I could find a "Defend
America, Defeat Bush" sticker on a freshly-stolen bike, and that of course
let me to start noticing the many unregistered bikes (some of them quite
nice frames with junk parts and bent wheels, some of them blacked-out
versions of same, sporting the shitty slap-on paint job of a
definitely-stolen ride, some of them junk frames with mismatched wheels and
parts) that are being ridden around Chinatown by homeless crackheads. I was
also pondering the lively trade in bikes (don't they have to be stolen
bikes???) and parts that I see just about every day at Fort Street Mall
(where there is always someone hustling a bike to the various out-of-it
homeless) and in and around Aala Park, especially down by the Salvation
Army, where there are always guys making new bike combinations out of piles
of junk...

A few questions for the group:

Is it safe to assume that all these unregistered bikes are stolen,
(especially the newer frames, since it is impossible to buy a new frame
without getting a registration)?

Is it possible to steal a bike that is already stolen and being ridden
around by a thief?

Would replacing Aarons recently purloined ride with a blacked-out
Specialized not be a Sweet Sort of Justice?

I was wracked when my daughters bike was stripped, mostly because it was
such a shitty thing for my little girl to have to suck up, her brand new
birthday bike not just stripped but also vandalized to no purpose...

I started thinking about re-stealing stolen bike parts in regard to her
bike, but I could not make myself do anything about it... but the more I
think of it the more angry I get, and the more determined that there SHOULD
be something somebody could do...

The thing that first came to mind about Aaron when I read that his bike was
stolen, was remembering him saying to someone at the last Mass, 'Yeah, sure,
I have a bike they can borrow', talking about loaning the acquaintance of an
acquaintance his 'bitch bike' which of course he will now be riding, and
thinking how the bike thief had actually fucked over several people,
knocking them down like a chain of dominoes... Aaron (like the Other Matt)
has nothing but aloha and positive energy for everybody, and he has to just
make a police report and forget about it?

And not to toot my own horn, but this holiday season my family and I hooked
up a little kid that had no bike and no prospects for one with a new bicycle
among other things...

The cops will drive right past crackheads on stolen bikes selling drugs
within a block of the police station (they have to pass them twice on a
donut and coffee run!!) and not do anything about it, THEY have to know that
all those bikes are stolen... And (at least in the last place I lived) bikes
confiscated by the cops are sold at auction, and often include bikes that
have current police reports filed on them... so even if the pigs recover a
stolen bike, chances are the original owner will never even find out about
it, unless they actually happen to ATTEND THE POLICE AUCTION WHERE THEIR
STOLEN BIKE IS TO BE SOLD!!!

I am interested to know if the group has any thoughts...

-Vigilante-Matt


>From: Justin Hahn <boodashaka@...>
>Reply-To: criticalmasshonolulu@...
>To: criticalmasshonolulu@...
>Subject: Re: stolen bike
>Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 14:48:31 -1000
>
>Yes, I'll send my commiserations along. As a member of Generation-Y, all I
>can say is: SUCKS!
>I was at work when I got the news, and they all felt just as bummed as me.
>Having a bike stolen is the worst. You loose all faith in humanity, and
>wonder if there is any goodness left in the universe.
>I've had four bikes stolen from me, three in one summer. All but one was
>locked up. But the other two, those bastards just ripped em off man, and
>left the lock hanging, torn up. The worst part is seeing that saddle you so
>prudently brought in, sitting there, reminding you of how much you loved
>you bike.
>If there is anything I (we) can do, don't hesitate to ask.
>I've got ten dollars (perhaps more, if need be) waiting if anyone else
>wants to throw in with me to get Aaron a new bike.
>
>Sorry,
>Justin Hahn
>
>On Feb 4, 2005, at 1:44 PM, Aaron Hebshi wrote:
>
>>Hi folks, my bike got stolen!
>> 
>>Keep your eyes open for it, I reported it to the police but don't have
>>much faith.
>> 
>>Trek 730 hybrid, forest green, bar ends, rear rack with blue bungee cord
>> 
>>Lots of stickers, most conspicuously "Defend America, Defeat Bush"
>> 
>>Thanks,
>>Aaron
>> 
>>
>>__________________________________________________
>>Do You Yahoo!?
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>
>Critical Mass - Take to the streets to make bicycling more than just a
>"transportation alternative"
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