Man Caught Stealing Bike Wheels, Set to Music

What a pathetic dog. I'd like to set up traps for these trash-people and beat them senseless when they're caught

**shudder**
as a cyclist I hate living in a smaller, less urban city (Decatur, GA), and I'd love to move back to a denser region (I grew up in Brooklyn, NY) but I can honestly say theft is 10x worse in NYC than here in ATL...too bad b/c otherwise NYC is pretty good for cycling

Ain't NY messed up?!

A gated community won't protect your bike. But a community where everyone can afford to take care of their families will. I mean, if I can't afford to pay my rent, and can't feed my kids, can't pay my electricity bills, and can't get a job, I'm going to start thinking about stealing your wheels, too, especially if you brag about having enough money to replace them. Not because I enjoy stealing stuff, but because I just don't know what else to do, and you clearly have more than you need.

remember that things that happened a while ago where someone stole someones PDA and Digg picked up on it>>? Someone should post this to digg..

Someone stole my headlight Wednesday.

I thought it was stuck on and couldn't be taken off any more.
I was proved wrong.

I also learned some time ago, the hard way, that my cycle computer can detatch from its mount.

I lost a 2004 blue Specialized Allez road bike in downtown NYC late in 2004 (cable lock).
My old 1986 Cannondale mountain bike was taken from my backyard (cable lock) in 2002.

The odds are with me, some day I will see it in progress and probably end up in jail for protecting my property.

vsk

i know it's not a panacea, but you can certainly lock up your frame and your wheels (a little more obvious to those who have quick-release wheels, but a wrench isn't exactly hard to come by)

As a biker, catching a thief in the act is something I dream of. I would love to pound this guy's face in.

OMG MOM???? WHY ARE YOU STEALING THAT DUDES WHEELZ!

@Turgil:

So...someone who can obviously afford to live in an area like that should feel bad about it? I'm not exactly sure what point you're trying to make except "you're rich, I'm not, F you".

fuck you Turil.

I hope Daniel finds this guy and breaks his legs or gets someone to do it.

The music/lyrics were great btw and amusing, sadly the event was not.

What the hell would you do with one wheel?

Man, I was really hoping he was going to get hit by a car at the end. Oh well, I guess that's what happens in communities where criminals don't have anything to fear from victims or witnesses. But even if he gets caught what's he gonna get probation?

"A gated community won't protect your bike. But a community where everyone can afford to take care of their families will. I mean, if I can't afford to pay my rent, and can't feed my kids, can't pay my electricity bills, and can't get a job, I'm going to start thinking about stealing your wheels, too, especially if you brag about having enough money to replace them. Not because I enjoy stealing stuff, but because I just don't know what else to do, and you clearly have more than you need."

What a cop out. If your mentally ill maybe but any healthy person in the United States can make enough money to not have to steal if they wanted to, problem is people are lazy, stupid, mean, and selfish.

That makes no sense at all... being in dire straights does not give anyone a right to take what is someone elses. Where's your moral compass?

So, now Turil is going to jack me if I drive a better car then his? Going to kidnap my wife and daughter if they won't date him? Gonna drag my cat out of state because his mutt doesn't measure up? It doesn't even take a 'hugger' to want everyone to have what they need... but it does take a real jerk to think that larceny is justified just because someone else has flipped a few more burgers than you have.

Don't absolve the guilty of their guilt by placing the blame on those who have committed no crime.

Bicycle thievery is one of the scummiest forms of theft that exists. About the only thing lower is stealing copper water pipes, manhole covers and streetlights.

Bikes are almost never covered by insurance (deductibles), and the people who ride them, usually depend on them. Especially in inner cities, often they are people who can't afford cars.

Of course, karma occurs regardless of whether or not someone is watching.

Four words. Chain through the tires.

MacBigot is absolutely correct, I mean Paris Hilton is sooo better off than I am only because she has flipped more burgers than I have. Life sucks for vegutarians.

http://bikepunchoutoriginal.ytmnd.com/

NIGGA STOLE YOUR BIKE! OMGLOL

that didn't sound like a justification, it sounded to me more like a reason.

hunger isn't justified by not eating, it's caused by it.

Thanks for the therapy. Some fucker smashed my window in my truck and tried to steal my radio in my (somewhat) gated community. I needed a little radio therapy. You did good by me. Oh, and you made digg so the karma machine is turning your way brother.

No, he wasn't saying anything of the sort. What he was pointing to was the fact that people who have basic needs met (food, shelter, clothing, and a sense of worth) are substantially less likely to commit petty crime.

Many people in that situation have wound up there either through their own actions or inactions, but it is us as a society which has allowed an environment to develop where that is even possible.

Assuming a person isn't simply a deviant, looking for the thrill of the crime, it is likely someone reduced to steeling bicycle wheels is doing so either to monetarily sate a basic need or to further a drug addiction (which to their mind is as basic a need as anything else), and (this is the crux) they either rightly or wrongly feel this is the only/best/most readily available means for them to accomplish this.

Individual responsibility is still important, but when there exists a segment of our population so deep in despair about their situation without a realistic and viable way out, we need to take individual responsibility for our actions/inactions which perpetuate that condition.

You know who the real a**holes are? All the people who just walked away from this guy who was obviously stealing. At the very least they could have called the cops, but they don't even do that. The state of 'society' today is absolutely appalling. I can understand Turil's thinking, I think it is wrong and no matter what you shouldn't steal, but I get where he is coming from. However, those people who just walked by had absolutely no reason to just, well, walk by. It is really amazing how many a**holes there are in the world today, truly amazing.

The sad thing is that that crook will get maybe $3for each wheel somewhere.

If I had caught that guy (even if the bike wasn't mine), he would have lost his life very painfully for $6.

I'm disturbed about all the cars driving by without helping.

Looks like the President of the United States to me...

Anyone else see it? Can we charge him if a few hundred of us see him doing it?

Personally, I think your an asshole if you think you can just leave your bike outside and think nothing will happen to it.

In any way I think the song from YTMND "nigga stole my bike" works better in this video than your song.

nice wheels!

Seriously Turil, as a college student I can honestly say I'm not exactly made of bicycles. Therefore, every time some crackhead jacks my bike (twice so far, and I have the best locks, so I don't know how they do it) it seriously pisses me off. Are you saying that someone who f'd up their life because they're a dumbass drug addict can steal from someone who spends they're cash on making their life better with an education? Are you saying that's okay? No Turil, the man in this video is an A-Hole, and a stupid one at that.

he should stop making music or kill himself.

Oh hey, i know who that it. His name is Nigger and there are millions of them in NY.

I think you're being a bit extreme, MacBigot, I only suggested that if I was stuck in a position of being unable to take care of my family, I'd probably be a lot less intellectual and a lot more desperate, too.

And I'm certainly not justifying larceny. I'm simply explaining it. To solve a problem, you first have to understing why it's happening.

As far as "the guilty"... well, we're all guilty of something.

And I'm not absolving anyone of their responsibilities in life. Stealing is wrong. And so is greed. Wanting more than your neighbors, and flaunting your "superiority" over them, like the singer in the video does, seems equally immoral to me.

I, myself, have been mugged and had my bike stolen right out from under me, by some sad looking kid from the projects. I peed my pants, but I figure he was probably even more scared than I was. Yes, it sucked to have my transportation taken away from me, but it must have sucked even more to be that kid. At least I had a job and some good friends and some potential to do something interesting with my life. That kid is probably either dead or in jail now. It takes something like that to remind me how priviledged I am that I have so many great things in my life. And it reminds me that it would be good for me to make sure that the kids in my area get as many chances as possible to be healthy and successful in life, rather than feeling stuck in the gangs and other dead end lifestyles. So, in a way, I'm glad it happened to me (as opposed to someone else, anyway).

But maybe that's my maternal instincts to care about folks, especially the less fortunate ones, who might need a little more unconditional, motherly love than the rest of us fortunate folks who have bikes and computers and jobs.

Even you, MacBigot, sound like you could use a bit of maternal love and care. You seem a bit sad, too. So I wish you much health and wellbeing, in your life.

wow turil, i'm really impressed with your pov. it's very christ-like, though no christian i ever met or even heard of (except maybe mother teresa) thinks like that. however, i disagree about the stealing part. there is no excuse for it. whether you are poor or the ceo of some major corp. it is harmful to our society. ever see the movie the 'bicycle thief'?

Hi Turil.

Why did you jump to the "less fortunate" argument? I don't believe you're trying to absolve his guilt, but you are rationalizing it. Is "less fortunate" your first thought when you see a black person stealing?

What is your rationalization for white people stealing? Is it the same "less fortunate" argument, or is that assumption reserved for only black people?

It's a video showing an asshole stealing tires, not a social commentary. How much information about the person did you glean from the video?

It seems you missed your calling as an FBI profiler...

"The most dangerous form of racism lies in assumptions and expectations of the subconscience." John

Buy some new wheels. Leave the bike in the same position. Obtain an unregistered, untraceable gun. Hide in waiting for the thief with YOUR gun. When/if he shows up again, kill him and plant the unregistered gun. Self-defense. Down here, you could just flat out kill him, and walk away with no jail time. I'm not so sure about up there.

Too bad even if the guy were caught he'd probably never learn his lesson.

Turil: you are one of the great trolls of our time. Your services would be much appreciated at 4chan.

lol

Turil,

In the amount of time this a**hole spends stealing, he could actually have a real job. People like you are one of the reasons that underpriviledged people in this country stay underpriviledged: by 'explaining' why they steal. My family had very, very little money but through their hard work and mine I went to college and got a good job.

Plus, your whole reason for commenting is ridiculous. This video wasn't condescending, all he said was he could buy new wheels. That doesn't make him an elitist.

Plus, the thief can afford tools and a bitchin little cart, so why can't be buy a freakin set of bike wheels. Plus, how do you know he was buying food and not a bottle of hooch.

And I don't need a hug, I get lots of them from friends and family.

DN

Some tips from a Dutchy:

Allways use at least two types of locks, bikethieves are often specialist in one type of lock only.

Use a solid chain lock to connect the frame to something umovable, like a steel fence or a lamp post.

The front wheel can be taken of easily. Connect it to the frame , or to the unmovable object, with a solid chain lock.

Don't trust cable locks, they can be cut quit easily.

If your bike is expensive: don't leave it in the street.

Here you go. This will show you why it doesn't matter where you lock up your bike.

http://www.neistat.com/movies/bikethief/index.htm

Tim, that vid sure is depressing. Shout out to Hector though. It would be interesting to see that experiment done with different races and see if there is any change in reaction.

Anyhow, I saw you can help Shank get new wheels by downloading the MP3 on his band's myspace page. If you like the song then why not?