Sting at Google

Last week my dad went out to his storage unit to get his bike and go for a ride. Unfortunately someone beat him to the punch.... they had cut the lock and stolen all 3 bikes that were in the unit. 2 were dads and 1 was Stacie's. One of dads and Stacie's bike were very expensive but replaceable... the 3rd one... not so replaceable. It was a custom built bike for dad over 25 years ago. This was a one and only bike and some schmuck just came in and took off with it. I believe he knew what he was doing because there were several other units unlocked with bikes still in them. My dad doesn't do hobbies lightly and this schmuck figured that out and went for the good stuff.

Super sleuth Stacie suggested dad check Craigslist to see if the bike was listed anywhere... would you believe it was? Now I won't divulge how the bike was actually worth but it wasn't anywhere close to the $250 price tag this guy had attached.

Not to mention this schmuck had to replace the front tire because dad's front tire was in the apartment being repaired. I am just imagining my dad walking out to the storage unit, front tire in hand and no bike to attach it to! The schmuck also had to replace the handlebar tape... all this and he only sells it for $250. Dumber than a bag of rocks.

As soon as dad saw the ad he called and expressed interest in buying the bike. They set up a meeting at Google (where my dad works) for noon. Dad called the police and as soon as he mentioned that the sting was already set up, they jumped into action. Unfortunately, the police couldn't be there until 1:30, so dad calls back the guy that has stolen his bike and changes the time to 1:30. Schmuck agrees and calls my dad when he arrives on the Google campus. The cops pose as my dad while he, Stacie and many other googlers watch from the windows. Someone snapped this picture...

The guy in the stripes is the schmuck (obviously, he is the one being arrested!) My dad is the one in blue in the foreground.

Currently the police have bike but he should be getting it back soon. As far as my dad can figure, the other 2 bikes were newer and probably ended up in a used bike shop in the mission district. Oh well... at least he got the irreplaceable bike back! This entire event happened in less than 8 hours.

Lesson of the story... there are some computer guys you just shouldn't mess with!