Hey,
I wrote my first book around a stolen motorcycle called Prize Possession. It was about my bike being stolen from the ER offices in Agoura Hills. I went after my Evo built by Mil Blair and Spin painted and installed Indian-styled fenders. It was unique. It’s a wild story and with the help of a few bros I got it back.
Recently, we thought about writing a series about stolen motorcycles. Readers started to send me news clippings about motorcycle thieves. I recently moved to Deadwood and have been scrambling to prepare for the Rally, but the stories keep coming. So, we decided to create an archive of Stolen motorcycle stories.
Keep ‘em coming and hopefully, if you have an issue with your stolen Prize possession, you’ll find inspiration here. Note: The photos displayed here are not connected to stories. They came from Sam’s collection of cool chopper shots and girls. What could be wrong with that.
–Bandit
Stolen Motorcycle Recovered 48 Years Later
Better late than never?
Whenever we are a victim of theft, we tend to hold out some hope that perhaps our stuff can be recovered. More often than not, our hopes are in vain, and our stuff is never recovered. Those of us who have gone through this can relate to frustrating interactions with police, who seem to give up immediately on putting any effort into recovering stolen goods.
That’s why this story is an unusual one: not just that a stolen motorcycle is recovered, but that it took 48 years to do so. The 1957 Harley-Davidson Panhead motorcycle was stolen from owner Delroy Sims who lived on the east side of Houston, Texas some time in 1963. At the time it was still a relatively new machine.
Not only is it nearly a miracle that the bike was recovered, but the fact that it’s in good shape and running adds mystery to the miracle. The world may never know the story here and it’s kind of killing me. Who stole it, and where has it been living this whole time? Did the most recent buyer know it was stolen? Did they lose whatever money they spent on it? How did it come to be identified as stolen, and what kind of proof did the son of the original owner have, that this was in fact his father’s motorcycle?
The original owner, sadly, did not live to see the motorcycle that he had apparently spent his life’s savings on, recovered from its theft. The bike was restored to his family, though, and his son has taken possession of the bike, which is now a classic. The great news about this is, the current (actual) owner isn’t going to turn around and sell his dad’s recently-reacquired classic. Delroy Sims’ son Darrell says the bike helps him feel closer to his dad, and that he’s going to restore the bike to what it looked like when his dad owned it.
Darrell says “I probably miss my dad everyday and now he’ll be in my garage.” He notes, “you offer me $100,000 dollars today and I don’t think I’d take it. I don’t think I’d take a quarter million.”
Hopefully whomever purchased the stolen bike is at least heartwarmed that the motorcycle is treated as an heirloom, and not a windfall, for this family.
Source: KHOU
Thieves Steal Motorcycles From Houston Motocross Track. Twice.
The badass motorcycle owner won’t ever have anything stolen again!
All of us who own and ride motorcycles are always, even if just a little bit, worried they’ll be stolen. We know there are motorcycle thieves out there. We know bikes are relatively easy to pop into a van or a truck and it only takes a minute or three for that bike to disappear.
We take precautions, but sometimes thieves break into our locked garages and take the bike and our gear and our stuff!
This is the nightmare that unfolded in Klamath Falls, Oregon, when a homeowner there discovered his Honda CR450X stolen out of his garage, along with riding gear and some other items, including, apparently, a 9mm handgun. For those not familiar, that CR450X is a Honda dirtbike, and powerful for a dirtbike, but it is definitely no match for a pickup truck on paved roads (dun dun DUNNNN).
The homeowner, 39-year-old Dustin Wade, was out in his Chevy pickup truck in a residential neighborhood and saw the thief ride past him, on the stolen bike. “He was wearing my helmet, and my wife’s coat and had my backpack on,” says Wade. He then gave chase: Wade followed his own motorcycle with the thief aboard it, at speeds sometimes topping 70mph. It only took about five minutes for the thief to crash the motorcycle and run. Did Wade give up? Heck no! He got out of his truck and chased the guy down on foot, tackled him and held him down until the police showed up.
Keep in mind that Wade knew this whole time that the guy had also quite probably stolen a handgun from him, and that he might be armed, but that didn’t stop our hero.
The thief, 45-year-old Darrell Duane Grisel, was not only armed with a stolen .22-caliber revolver (which is not the gun stolen from Wade) but was also carrying a PVC pipe bomb in his (stolen) backpack at the time of his arrest.
If we were all this badass, motorcycle thieves everywhere would think twice about taking stuff that does not belong to them. Bike thieves are the worst. This one has been convicted and sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison, but mostly because of the firearms charge.
Source: OregonLive
$200K worth of motorcycles stolen from Heartland Harley-Davidson
By Michaele Niehaus
The Hawk Eye
Burlington police are investigating the theft of about $200,000 worth of motorcycles from Heartland Harley-Davidson.
Lt. Wayne Thomson, commander of the Burlington Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, said the burglary occurred at about 2:40 a.m. April 30, when a display window was broken, allowing the burglar or burglars entry to the business at 117 S. Roosevelt Ave.
The break-in triggered the retailer’s security alarm. By the time police arrived, several motorcycles had been taken from the property.
Police are reviewing security footage from the area and following up on leads.
As of Thursday, Heartland Harley-Davidson had not responded to The Hawk Eye’s requests for comment.
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – Amarillo police say a motorcycle stolen during a burglary has been recovered.
Amarillo Crime Stoppers asked for help locating a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King stolen during a burglary.
Police said the burglary took place at a home near S. Philadelphia Street and SE 7th Avenue on Saturday, March 20.
Amarillo Crime Stoppers – Stolen Auto Day ***UPDATE*** This stolen motorcycle has been recovered. Amarillo Crime…
Posted by Amarillo Crime Stoppers on Monday, April 12, 2021
A CHASE FOR A STOLEN MOTORCYCLE
23/07/2020
A stolen motorcycle is any rider’s worst nightmare. For Steve, however, the nightmare had not only become real, but it seemed to never end as he struggled to recover his stolen bike. Thankfully, this story does have a happy ending – but it took several months for Steve and the local police to find and retrieve his motorcycle.
“This whole happening was very emotionally draining for me because this motorcycle meant a lot to me, as I was dreaming of buying one for the past five years”, Steve told us. “Adventure motorcycling is my most loved hobby and I can sincerely tell you that I felt legless without my moto”, he explained. And we totally get it: our bikes aren’t just mere means of transport, and any rider would understand why Steve had a tough time while his motorcycle was missing.
Back in January, Steve had parked his motorcycle on the street in London securing it with two locks and chains going through the rear wheel and around a steel post on the sidewalk, plus a disc lock and an alarm. The motorcycle was covered and had the Monimoto tracker hidden underneath the fairings. In other words, Steve wasn’t careless and did everything by the book: several layers of security including a cover, chains, disc locks, and an alarm. You’d think the bike was safe, and yet, the thieves still managed to get at it.
“They stole it at about 5 pm, it was already dark and they took advantage of the fact that a neighbor was working on his house those days, so there were noises of angle grinders all throughout the week. It took the thieves about ten minutes to remove all security measures and cut the front disk to remove the disk lock. Worse yet, they’ve threatened my neighbor to stay in house – she was the one to call the police. Finally, they took off by dragging or pushing my bike with a moped, according to two witnesses”, Steve explained.
Not only the thieves cut chains and locks on the bike and threatened a neighbor, but it appears the criminals were especially aggressive. “When I got the call from Monimoto, I went to the window to see the bike was gone. There was a crowd of people around that spot. I rushed out to find out there was a huge scandal: apparently, one of my neighbors kept throwing rocks at the thieves as they were working on the bike, but they were not bothered and just took off with the motorcycle”, Steve recalled.
He immediately called the police, and the officers agreed to go on a search based on Monimoto tracker’s signals. The tracking device was still active – the thieves hadn’t spotted it – and it was sending out approximate locations of the bike.
After the initial search, Steve realized they were simply too late. Having spoken with Monimoto support and the police, he decided to continue searching on his own.
As bad luck would have it, however, the Monimoto tracker was only providing approximate locations instead of pinpointing exactly where the bike was. When installing the tracker, it’s crucial to test it out and make sure the GPS tracker is sending an exact location. If you notice a problem or get approximate location, please always let us know, and we’ll do our best to help you fix the issue.
Realizing only an approximate location was being given, Steve was still determined to comb the area and see if he could find the stolen motorcycle.
“Although the thieves have ditched my bike somewhere in the first night – as they always do to prevent police from locating them – I just could not find it. I went to the neighborhood where the approximate coordinates were indicating and contacted the police, then we went out on the streets searching for the bike. But we just had no luck at all”, Steve remembered. “The day after, I started getting signals again. It seemed the thieves were on the move, but again, I only received approximate signals.
This was Friday. On Saturday, I went with a friend and searched around Essex, where it had ended up at that point. I could only speculate as to where exactly the bike was and try to ask around. For the upcoming month, I kept receiving approximate locations, so I kept trying to reach local neighborhood watch groups to make them aware of my bike”, Steve said.
Eventually, Steve decided to claim the insurance on the stolen motorcycle, as it seemed the bike was gone for good. It proved a little difficult as the bike was still registered abroad, but the claim came through.
Several months later, Steve got some more approximate locations from the Monimoto device. It appeared the bike was moving again. A few days later, Steve finally got an accurate location of the bike: a large truck stop in Essex. He immediately called the police, and, as the officers went to check out the truck stop, they found Steve’s motorcycle and several other stolen bikes.
“The police did not give me too many details, but they told me they were seizing my bike for further investigations and that I’m to pick it up from the impound at a later time. I found out from a worker at the impound that the bike was wrapped in black cling film, stashed and hidden under the platform of a vehicle transport lorry along with another Ducatti. Apparently, the truck driver was drunk but had paperwork for both bikes, so he did not get arrested. The documents were fake, obviously”, Steve explained.
Once the police released the bike, Steve finally got his beloved machine back.
According to Steve, the thieves had damaged his motorcycle, and he will need to do some repairs. “Now, the bike is not in the best shape. It’s missing a lot of parts and it seems it was hot-wired; the thieves forcefully removed the ignition and I’m waiting to get a quote from an authorized repair shop. The thugs managed to remove the saddle and clearly sold the side panels but miraculously, did not remove the Monimoto device. It was in plain sight, but as the black case blends quite nicely with the bike’s frame, I guess they just didn’t notice it.
The police have reopened the case, but because of the amount of crimes in the UK, there is little hope anyone is getting charged for it unless they find a network of criminals soon”, Steve said.
Although the recovery of Steve’s motorcycle took much longer than you’d expect, we’re so happy he got the bike back, and we appreciate Steve sharing the story with us. If you’ve just gotten your Monimoto, double-check that the locations you get are accurate, not approximate, and let us know if you need any help!
Wondering how YOU can protect your bike?
Check out Monimoto smart trackers
Angry mob set ablaze three suspected motorcycle thieves in Lagos
Angry mobs on Monday evening meted out jungle justice on three suspected motorcycle thieves in Ayobo area of Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the three suspects, who allegedly stole two brand new motorcycles at Olorunsola, Ayobo, Ipaja, Lagos were set ablaze after lynching them.
According to an eyewitness who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the suspects took to their heels after allegedly stealing the motorcycles.
“Some commercial motorcyclists ran after the suspected thieves and caught up with them along Koloba Road, off Alaja Road, Ayobo, Ipaja, Lagos.”
“Two were initially caught and were instantly lynched, while the other one scampered for safety.”
“He was later caught in one of the streets in Alaja and wheeled down to join the other two before they were set on fire.”
“The thieves also injured some people while they tried to escape.”
“Those who were injured have been rushed to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention,” the witness said.
The police have been drafted to the scene of the incident.
SOURCE: https://theeagleonline.com.ng/angry-mob-set-ablaze-three-suspected-motorcycle-thieves-in-lagos/
Police: Suspect had stolen motorcycle in hotel room
Our Quad Cities – Illinois
A 23-year-old Davenport man is behind bars after police say he had a stolen motorcycle in his hotel room Sevan Spooner faces charges that include a felony charge of second-degree theft and a misdemeanor charge of possession of burglary tools.
Man’s motorcycle, stolen 4 years ago, anonymously returned
–by Cameron Evans from https://www.washingtontimes.com
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) – Miles McCarvel didn’t think he was ever going to get his 1972 Harley-Davidson motorcycle back after it was stolen four years ago.
On. Oct 13, though, he came home to find the bike leaning up against his garage.
The bike looked exactly the same as the last time McCarvel saw it: it was still missing a battery, the tires were flat and it didn’t have any new miles on it.
“I was like ‘what the hell,’ you know? I couldn’t believe it,” he told the Missoulian.
McCarvel hopped out of his car, took a picture of the red Aermacchi Harley-Davidson 350 Sprint and made a post on Facebook that read: “I built this bike when I was 20 years old! Glad to have it back. I guess there’s good things happening in the world too.”
The post received over 350 reactions and over a hundred comments, including one comment from a person who said their cousin also had a stolen truck returned a couple weeks later with a $20 bill on the console.
Missoula Police Department public information officer Travis Welsh said it isn’t very often that people return items they’ve stolen without police intervention, and said that once a theft has already occurred, any weight given to the gesture of returning the item at a later time would be determined by a prosecutor.
Arnold Police arrested a St. Louis man and an Arnold woman in connection with the theft of a motorcycle spotted outside WoodSpring Suites hotel in Arnold.
Officers also found an Arnold man in the hotel room with the pair and arrested him for alleged possession of drugs, police reported.
At about 7:10 p.m. April 29, detectives saw a 2019 Yamaha motorcycle without license plates parked outside the hotel, 888 Arnold Commons Drive. The detectives learned the motorcycle had been reported stolen by St. Louis Police, the report said.
One detective went into the hotel, and an employee showed him video surveillance of a 30-year-old St. Louis man and a 27-year-old Arnold woman arriving on the motorcycle. The employee also told the detective the two were in a room at the hotel, according to the report.
The detectives went to the room, and when they knocked on the door a 40-year-old Arnold man opened it. The man and woman from the surveillance video also were in the room, and the two allegedly had motorcycle helmets near them, the report said.
The detectives arrested the St. Louis man and the woman, and while in the room, they saw a bag that contained a white crystal-like substance that appeared to be methamphetamine. The Arnold man said the bag was his, and the detectives arrested him as well, Arnold Police reported.
The two men and woman were taken to the Police Station, where they were booked and released pending application for warrants. Depending on results of the drug analysis, Arnold Police will seek charges against the Arnold man through the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for possession of a controlled substance, Cpl. Brett Ackermann said.
Ackermann also said Arnold Police will seek a first-degree tampering charge against the St. Louis man and a second-degree tampering charge against the woman.
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — One person is in custody, facing multiple charges, as the result of a joint investigation between local law enforcement agencies.
A press release from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office reports four stolen vehicles and one motorcycle have been recovered so far as the result of an ongoing investigation by the sheriff’s office and Fletcher Police Department.
Officials say Daniel Jordan Trammel, of Fletcher, has been charged with multiple felonies related to stolen vehicles and motorcycles in the South Asheville area and southern part of Buncombe County.
ONE IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER SHOOTING IN ASHEVILLE; SUSPECT FLED SCENE, REMAINS WANTED
Trammel was taken into custody on Saturday, Jan. 23, after “a short foot chase” and is being held on a $30,800 secured bond, according to Monday’s release. Officials say he was in possession of 2.8 grams of methamphetamine, 13 units of a schedule lV controlled substance, marijuana and drug paraphernalia at the time of his arrest.
Charges filed by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office so far include:
Possession of stolen motor vehicle
Driving while license revoked
Felony probation violation
Felony flee to elude arrest
Reckless driving to endanger
Possession of methamphetamine
Possession of schedule lV
“This arrest was the culmination of a joint investigation conducted by Buncombe County Property Crimes Division, Patrol Division and with substantial assistance from Fletcher Police Department,” Monday’s release states. “Fletcher PD has been instrumental in the recovery of multiple vehicles this week.”
Motorcycle theft investigation leads to arrests
April 12, 2021
Three people were arrested last week on drug-related offenses after sheriff’s deputies were investigating the theft of a motorcycle.
Sheriff Mark Lillywhite said deputies received information about the stolen motorcycle and went to a Park Township residence around 8 p.m. Thursday to investigate.
Upon arrival at the residence, located in the 54000 block of Fisher Street, deputies contacted suspects and recovered the stolen motorcycle.
Three suspects at the residence, two men ages 39 and 44, and a 33-year-old woman, were arrested. Deputies discovered two of the three suspects were in possession of methamphetamine.
Deputies obtained a search warrant for the residence and secured the stolen motorcycle and discovered more methamphetamine.
The three suspects, all from Three Rivers, face several felony charges related to possession of a controlled substance, and charges related to stolen property, authorities said.
FREMONT, CA — A 41-year-old Fremont resident was arrested on Monday in Milpitas on suspicion of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana for sales, auto theft and auto theft with priors, possession of a stolen vehicle, and possession of stolen property. The suspect’s name has not been released.
Officers with the MPD Crime Reduction Team were patrolling a hotel parking lot when they contacted the Fremont resident, who was on Alameda County probation for a narcotics offense and had a $10,000 felony warrant for violation of probation.
Police say they found a loaded gun and a quantity of marijuana and tar heroin inside the suspect’s backpack. Officers linked a motorcycle parked nearby to the suspect.
The gun was an unreported stolen firearm and the motorcycle had been reported as stolen to the Fremont Police Department.
Police have made an arrest after two stolen Kawasaki motorized dirt bikes were recovered.
Kevin Jorge Barrera-Briceno, 20
The bikes were valued at $1,500 and $4,400.
On July 1, police detectives received credible information that the stolen bikes were at a residence in the 900 block of 14th Avenue Southeast. Detectives conducted a follow-up on the information and obtained a search warrant for the address. Upon executing the search warrant, detectives located the two stolen Kawasaki dirt bike motorcycles in the detached garage. In addition, detectives also found drug paraphernalia, a Maverick arms 12-gauge shotgun, and a Taurus 9mm handgun in the residence.
Police arrested Kevin Jorge Barrera-Briceno, 20, of Austin in connection with the stolen dirt bikes. He has been charged in Mower County District Court with two counts of felony receiving stolen property, two counts of user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm, and one count of gross misdemeanor user of a controlled substance in possession of firearm ammunition.
Police are also looking for information that could help identify two individuals, a Black male and a Hispanic male, seen riding the stolen bikes. Anyone with information is asked to call the Austin Police Department at 507-437-9407.
We also received a story about a guy who was broke down along a road in Missouri. A cop pulled over to help, but it turned out the motorcycle was stolen and the guy was packing meth. Not his best day, but a rider’s motorcycle was returned.
I gleaned a message from my story and many of these. Motorcycles, especially Harleys, Indians and vintage bikes are a different breed from stealing stereos and shit to sell. Sure, there are still chop shops, but even them hold an eery, determined vibe. Like a pet cat or dog is determined to find its owner. But there’s another major player in the mix, the code of the west. One of the major codes is, “Never stop or give up.” That means reaching out to anyone and everyone until a connection is made. Follow up on every lead and don’t give up until your motorcycle is returned.
from https://www.cincinnati.com by Quinlan Bentley
We will keep the stories coming. Don’t give up, ever!
Ride Fast and Free Forever,
–Bandit
