What to do if a bike is stolen?

Theft of a bicycle can occur anywhere: in an entrance or in a crowded parking lot. If the thief decided to steal, the locks and the alarm will not become an obstacle for him. What to do if the hijacking has occurred, and is there a chance to return your favorite bike?

Unfortunately, vehicle thefts are encountered, but it is bicycles that are less legally protected. There is no special article in the Criminal Code for stealing a bike. Responsibility can be attributed to articles 7.27; 158; 161 and 162 of the Criminal Code, which provide for punishment for petty theft of property worth more than 2500 rubles, robbery or robbery. Punishments for such crimes can be administrative or criminal, it all depends on the size of the amount in which the bike is valued, and the actions of the violators themselves:

• stole a bike without the knowledge of the owner - theft;
• selected by force - robbery;
• if during the robbery the victim was injured - robbery.

In order for the expert to determine the value of the stolen, it is necessary to provide documents confirming the market and official price of the bike at the time of the theft, as well as a check confirming the original purchase amount. To understand the difference in responsibility for such a crime, you need to know the difference between theft and theft:

• hijacking target - take possession of another's vehicle without the consent of the owner;
• purpose of theft - to seize and resell the bike for profit.

Based on the qualification of the crime and the expert’s estimate of the cost of the bike, the offender may face the following penalties.

1. If the cost of the bike does not exceed 1000 rubles, according to article 7.27, a fine can be from 100 rubles to the size of five vehicle costs. Or the kidnapper faces a detention of 10 to 15 days, forced labor is possible.
2. If the damage is estimated from 1000 to 2500 thousand rubles, the punishment may be a fine of 3,000 rubles to 5 stolen costs, arrest up to 15 days or 120 hours of community service.
3. With the amount stolen in excess of 2500 thousand rublesmay face criminal liability (Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and the actual term of imprisonment (depending on circumstances) of 2 years or more. The penalties are as follows:
   • a fine in the amount of a six-month salary, or up to 80 thousand rubles;
   • community service up to 350 hours;
   • arrest (detention for 4 months);
   • imprisonment of up to 2 years.

Aggravating factors are considered the theft of vehicles worth more than 5,000 rubles by an organized conspiracy group, with penetration into the home. In such cases, penalties are tightened:

• the fine may amount to 200,000 rubles;
• forced labor - 450 hours;
• depending on various reinforcing factors, the punishment can be up to 5 years in prison.

In most cases, bicycles are stolen from porches and halls, many of which the owners don’t even fasten with cables, naively believing that a public door with a lock or intercom could protect him. In second place are thefts in crowded places, in parking lots, at supermarkets. The criminal just cuts off the cable from the castle. There are cases of theft from garages, basements, balconies. Sometimes violators aggressively, against the will of the owners, take a bike to "ride" and do not return. If the owner does not find the bike in the place where he left it, immediately call the police. 90% of all crimes are revealed "in hot pursuit."

Before the police arrive, you can take the following actions.

1. Interview passers-by, maybe someone noticed in which direction the cyclist moved forward and what he looked like. If eyewitnesses are found, you should take the coordinates from them, they may be needed for further legal action.
2. Inspect the place of theft, the thief could drop receipts, tickets, personal items that would help go on the trail of the criminal.
3. Next, you need to pay attention to the cars parked around, identify those of which are being recorded from the DVRs, wait for the owners of the cars and view the recorded material with them. If the owners are absent for a long time, you can try to leave a note with your phone number and a description of the situation.
4. Inspect nearby buildings and other objects that can house video cameras. Subsequently, you can find out to whom they belong and persuade the owners to show the material they shot. Worse, if the cameras belong to municipal organizations, they will need special permission to view them, and this will take a lot of time.

It is more difficult to search for a bike stolen from the entrance, courtyards are sparsely populated and are rarely equipped with video surveillance cameras. But the search should still be carried out according to the above scheme. To facilitate the search for a missing vehicle, you must try to provide the police with as much data as possible about it: purchase receipt, passport, frame number, photographs, if any.

When filing a complaint to the police about the theft of a bicycle, many do not believe that they will find it, but it still needs to be done. If independent searches yield results, the presence of a statement and other legal documents will help to remove the bike from the offender. The most difficult thing when applying is to persuade him to be accepted at the police station. Employees will refer to the unimportance of the problem and the large workload. But you should be persistent, refer to the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia from O1. О3.2012 year number 140, to introduce yourself as an informed person, ready to fight for their rights.

You can record the name of the duty officer who refuses to accept the application, threatening him with a complaint. If it is refused again, the application should be sent by mail, with an inventory and notification. In the site, all letters are registered and it will be impossible to change anything. A sample application can be found on the Internet, or get a form at the police station. Documents are prepared as follows: in the left corner a “head” is drawn up, where the name of the site name and the data of the head are indicated. In the center is the name of the document. The following are reported:

• a full description of the stolen bike with documents and photos;
• describes the circumstances in which he was abducted;
• the time when the crime was committed and the address where everything happened;
• eyewitness accounts with their contact details;
• at the end, a number and a signature are affixed.

Not so long ago, the announcement of the loss was given to the newspaper. Today, the availability of the Internet allows you to bring information about the theft of a bicycle to everyone. You can use the following resources:

• databases accumulating information about the theft and search of bikes ("Velo theft", "Velo wanted");
• social networks;
• thematic sites (led clubs, forums, announcements).

In the submitted information, it is necessary to clearly describe the incident, indicate the place and time, add photographs and, if there is video from surveillance cameras, use fragments in which the hijacker is most clearly visible. The material should be concise, but at the same time capacious, contain all the necessary information. Texts that are too long cannot be read to the end, so you should not overload them with emotions and excessive details.

According to statistics, bicycle thefts have become more frequent because they are the most affordable vehicles for hijacking. Owners often by their naivety and irresponsibility themselves provoke offenders to theft. They leave bikes “for a minute”, which is enough to say goodbye to their property. In the legislation of the Russian Federation, although indirect, there are articles with which you can be held responsible for the theft of a bicycle. But in fact, this happens extremely rarely.

It turns out that "the salvation of drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves." Looking through ads for used bicycles and visiting similar markets, you can stumble upon a missing bike and, after committing violence, take away your good. But then the victim becomes the criminal. In such a case, it is better to contact the police and relying on the previously left statement, insist on the seizure of the vehicle. It is sad that stolen bikes are sold quite easily. They are bought by ads for a quarter of the initial cost, which is used by thieves.

Criminals can choose any bike, from children's or old Soviet to expensive sports equipment. But preference is given to mountain bicycles worth 20-30 thousand rubles, for them you can easily gain from 5 to 10 thousand rubles. The victims themselves behave improperly, they turn to the police too late, but finding the bicycle is easiest in the first hours after the theft.

What to do if you stole a bike, see the next video.