i am desperate. my beloved bicycle was stolen today at the bicycle parking lot of my university in Kaohsiung. i only locked the rear wheel because i felt save. there are guards at the entrances and cctv all over the campus. after my evening class i went back and my bike was gone. i asked two of my students to help me communicating with the guards and they brought me to the cctv control room. i left my bike only for about 2 hours so it was easy to find the moment where my bike was stolen. ｔｈｅ ｔｈｉｅｆ ｗａｓ ｄｒｅｓｓｅｄ ｌｉｋｅ ａ ｓｔｕｄｅｎｔ ｗｉｔｈ ａ ｓｍａｌｌ ｂａｇ． ｈｅ ｗａｌｋｅｄ ｃｌｏｓｅ ｔｏ ｍｙ ｂｉｋｅ ｌｉｆｔｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｒｅａｒ ｗｈｅｅｌ ａｎｄ ｗａｌｋｅｄ ａｗａｙ． i got a picture of the thief and tomorrow they will burn a cd with the whole footage.
what should be my next step? going to the police? release the footage on youtube and facebook?
Sorry to hear that, it’s so painful when a bike is stolen. Especially when it’s beloved.
You can try all the good things that you suggest, but I’ve had the same experience (although not in Taiwan), and the police aren’t that interested in investigating bike theft, unless the thief is known to them. You could go to a few 2nd Kaohsiung hand bike shops, but unless you get lucky you’ll have to move on.
When I posted my thief cctv pic online, I was told that I was infringing his human rights :loco:.
I have made the same experience: police don’t really care. Do report the incident though:
Maybe the thief will be caught by police for something else, then he can also be charged with stealing your bike. Justice served feels good and he will need to compensate you.
If you have a household appliance insurance, your bike may be covered and a police record is neccesary to claim the money.
Also, you might want to consider involving the university as they keep photos of all students on file. Why not put up a “wanted” poster with a cash reward of 7,000 NT$ ? Someone might hold a grudge against the thief and rat him out.
Don’t bother with any third parties (students, colleagues) complaining about the thief’s human rights. Only the thief could actually make you take the photos down - i doubt he will demand that though
mine was stolen not long ago. so i sympathise with the typeset. The OP should do all the things he suggested. http://www.tw.bid.yahoo.com is a popular online second-hand thingy.
i went from bike store to bike store but did not find my bike but at least one shopkeeper seemed to get nervous when i showed him the picture of the thief.
i was at the police and the foreigner service officer was really nice and helped me to report the theft at the police station next to the university. but they did not care very much.
tomorrow i will go to the university again and ask them if they will compare the student pictures with the cctv footage.
and i just bought a new (used) bike from bid yahoo.
i am no longer sure about the youtube video and wanted poster because i fear that the thief is some kind of gang member.
i will let you know if the thief will be caught or my new bike will be stolen again.
Gangs in Taiwan usually don’t bother with stealing bikes, they are more into gambling, politics or trafficking South East Asian women into prostitution.
If it makes you feel safer, I can upload the video for.
Got nervous did he? Really? Perhaps a visit from Uncle Louie would jar is memory. Oh, sorry, Uncle Benny here.
Maybe an older Gangster type looking person would be just the thing to get him talking…
Did the bike shop actually understand what you were looking for?
I had some equipment stolen, people drove up in one of those blue open back type trucks you see everywhere. Loaded up my stuff and drove off. This happened at 8:15 in the morning! Well my apt had cctv and we saw who took it. Called the police, they looked at the cctv on the main road and got the truck plates, brought my equipment back in two days.
You can post up flyers and what not but unless you get a clear piece of identifying info (good face, unique features, license plates) your probably out of luck. Taiwan cctv quality almost all suck.
