Author: Mike Mullins
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3m 5sLenght
5629Rating

After reading some of the chicken shit comments...I enjoy dealing with criminals. You just have to be meaner than them. Stand up and chase the threat, stop running from it! 1st thing, Sorry about the terrible audio, I just had my hands full trying to figure out what to do. I've bought and sold lots of bikes but never like this! Recently my sons CRF250F was stolen from his garage where the thief had to cut multiple locks and chains to remove it. My son had it listed on Charlotte Craigslist for sale and when potential buyers asked for it he gave out his address to see the bike. About 4am one morning, someone brought the tools, took the bike and left the tools for us! After the bike was stolen, a police report was filed with our local Police department and we started the hunt. My son ran some ads on CL asking for help to find his bike but didn't get any leads. He continued to scour the bikes for sale section on many websites but found it back on Craigslist, just 3 weeks! We immediately contacted the seller and made arrangements to see it about 45 miles from where it was taken from. Armed with a pic from his ad and info from him about a nearby landmark, we were able to pinpoint his apartment complex and better prepare ourselves... When we got to the apartments just off of Independence Blvd, we saw that it was undoubtedly our Honda! Someone had removed the graphics, other than that the bike was unadulterated! Even the rear tire looked almost exactly as it did before the theft. They had made very few laps because "it won't start unless you push it real hard" the seller said. After my son rode it to make sure it was what he wanted, we talked the guy down to a fair price. We told the fellow that we'd go grab the cash at a bank and be back in 30 min. The three of us drove about 1 block away and called the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police to the scene. After explaining the situation, 2 CMPD cars approached the apartment complex, with lots of backup quickly following. They right away saw him 1st pushing the bike then dropping it and fleeing to cuts in the fences that separate the apartment complexes. A full on chase ensued which eventually involved 20 or so officers. The cops are well aware of the cuts in the fences and were waiting for him when he ran through one. I came back to the deserted scene during the chase to find the bike on its side, a couple of CMPD cars and a discarded officers service jacket. He was caught and brought back to the site where he bailed from within a few minutes. After we provided the law with all the paperwork, Vin. #, Police report, and original bill of sale, we were allowed to load our property and take it back to where it rightfully belongs...on the trail, in the woods. Thanks to CMPD for their help. There were countless ways to handle that day and just as many possible outcomes. The approach we took KEPT US OUT OF JAIL, if we didn't have the Vin. #, we would've had to do things different.