You are hereUPDATED ABP: UT West Campus Bike Thieves seen and REALLY identified.
UPDATED ABP: UT West Campus Bike Thieves seen and REALLY identified.
Update: I communed with my friendly ghost, and was told a rather harrowing tale. A tale of two bike thieves who drive a white sedan and live in town. Then it showed me an ethereal vision. "Of what", you may ask? I won't keep you in suspense, this is what I saw...
Yeah, I also have a name and address, with plenty of other juicy morsels to chew on. THANKS FRIENDLY GHOST! You're the spookiest!
I'm currently looking for a phone number so I can ask them to knock that shit out because we'll keeping an eye out, but good things come to those who wait; I'm sure of it. Thanks for keeping an eye out, y'all. Always be vigilant! Bike thieves suck.
I just read a report on Craigslist about a pair of bicycle thieves preying on the West Campus area. Check it out for a description, their MO, and even the license plate of the getaway car:
Cyclists: keep your eyes open for a white, beat-up sedan with a trunk bicycle rack, license plate number 945-XXP around the campus area.
I ran into a short, stocky, Hispanic male in a gray hoodie with a pair of bolt-cutters trying to walk nonchalantly away from my roommate's bike this morning. When I confronted him, he ran, along with a woman with shoulder-length black hair. I chased them to the aforementioned sedan, and they got away after I had caught their license plate. They had been trying to cut through the railing my roommate's bike was locked to. Five more minutes and they would have had it.
West Campus is pretty bad for bike thefts, so I'm hoping we can prevent one more theft by knowing who to look out for. Good luck, and don't forget your U-locks.
Keep your eyes peeled, and if you see any suspicious activity from the aforementioned crooks, you know what to do.
P.S. Anyone on the inside or have access to the DMV database? I'd love to do a lookup on that license plate number, but my person has been incommunicado recently. Some help here and maybe a name and address to go with these thieves descriptions could be kinda cool.
that excuse is getting old.
Yeah, it's not like they (the cops) probably have the resources to track down 'possible theft' or whatever (but, really, the theives in mention were caught red-handed! just not by the police! i would have beat the shit out of them...on the spot)....sorry I digress.
these people/person/whomever will probably strike again. doubt our sweet little blog will truly scare them away from taking people steeds and selling them to Mexico or whereever all the stolen bikes are going...
dammit this is just fustrating...curious to know if anything will happen now...
i think a little knock on the door isn't out of character though by the witness. It worked for my friend before and she was able to walk away without beating the shit out of the guy who wronged her...plus with her postive ID she was able to get the cops involved at that point. Granted, her case was a Hit and Run...
-Jessica
bike nerd fo' life, yo
Owner Name
MARISELA GUTIERREZ
Owner Address
2502 CECIL DR
APT A
AUSTIN, TX 78744
Keep in mind, this could be a stolen plate as well.
Have fun.
Sure, it's pretty far south, but S. Congress isn't bad at all for riding. Big groups would have to ride single file, of course. With lights and all. Hey, let's have a parade! Call it the "South of Slaughter" ride. Doesn't that sound like a good title for a down and dirty Coen Bros. film?
... it could be that these people are completely innocent and the post to Craigslist was intended to be revenge for something or a prank. After all, the guy who posted to CL didn't exactly give his name or phone number to confirm it -- he's pretty much anonymous.
Granted, it certainly seems plausible, but there's plenty of room for it to be a hoax. I'd suggest leaving Marisela alone and letting the police handle it (granted, I wouldn't expect much action from them, but if the original poster reported it to them and had good information for them, maybe ...)
But if everything the CL poster posted is true -- 1) good for him for intervening -- many people don't, 2) good for him to post this, and 3) I hope he also reported it to the police.
To lend a little credibility to the story, I slipped the craigslist poster my phone number and an hour later he called me and we talked about the incident. My gut says everything sounded on the up-and-up. The pic I posted is the google street view image of the address associated with that plate, showing the white sedan. The poster has already contacted the police, who said there's nothing they could do since the bike wasn't successfully stolen.
I just want Marisela's phone number, so I can give her a ring and let her know that if she IS stealing bikes (or helping) we know about it and she needs to knock it off.
Cop out. If nothing else, they could get them for vandalism for attempting to cut through the railing. There should be evidence of that -- cut marks, finger prints, etc. And really, attempted theft is still a crime as well, and there should be no shortage of evidence if the witness is willing to testify (and it sounds like he is.)
(Of course, I'm the preacher, and you're the choir ...)
As for credibility, the story sounds credible. It always did. But even so, I wouldn't suggest any vigilante action, just in case it's not. Or perhaps Marisela's cousin borrowed her car and she didn't even know what he was doing with it ...
In any event, my guess is that Marisela already knows that her car, house, name and address are all over the Interweb as a bike thief. And this story is already the #2 result for `"MARISELA GUTIERREZ" austin'. But yeah, if you find a number, a phone call might be appropriate. (Throwing bikes through her window might be unwise, however.)
a strongly worded letter slipped inside a christmas card?
spill the beans about this guys where a bouts.
i'll give him a bunch of bicycles...hahahah
in the through your car/house/everywhere window of sorts...
Was gonna tell you you can just call the DMV with the license number and they can give that info to you. Freedom of Information Act!