I'VE GOT AN IDEA!!! If you're scared of the repercussions from this 690 lb. blackbelt sniper quad thief on crack, then go to a nursing home and give a 95 year old man a Hustler magazine, 20 bucks and a bottle of Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word Spam wordSpam word  to rat out the thief.

Then when the thief goes into his fit of vengeful rage and takes out his diabolical and murderous wrath on the old timer, at least he will be going after someone who doesn't have much time left anyway.

On second thought, don't do that... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Doing the right thing will nearly always cost you something. But there is someone on your side when you decide to do what is right.

Psalms 6:11-13
God is a righteous judge,
a God who expresses his wrath every day,
If man does not repent,
God will sharpen his sword;
He will bend and string his bow.
He has prepared his deadly weapons;
He makes ready his flaming arrows.

Turn that punk in and let God handle the rest!

 

cain73,

Good thing to ask for advice. But YOU do what you think YOU should do. I think you really just want to do the right thing, but are afraid. In life we takes risks, we must way the risk vs benefit. In this case the benefits would be: Good feeling because YOU did the right thing, getting a scum sucking puke thief caught, making somebody happy by finding their stolen quad, etc.
About your friend. I'll assume that you are upstanding citizen that does not steal or commit any crimes against others with your "friend", otherwise you would not be askking this question. No matter what your relationship is with this "friend", would a good "friend" ask another "friend" to buy something stolen from somebody else? I think not. So don't consider the "frienship" in the equation, the "frienship should be over no matter what your decision on this situation is. A true "friend" should not have put you in this situation. I could go on and on, but you get the point, and others have touched on it also.

TO THE ISSUE AT HAND
You decide what to do. But at the very least, do something. Get a description of the quad from your "friend" or go see it for yourself. If you can discreetly see if the stickers are on it, that will help. Then go talk to a detective. If the quad was reported stolen in your area, hopefully by giving the detectives a description they can track down the owner. Talk to the detective about your options. I would encourage you to do something. I could tell you all the things I would do and try, but you'd think I was crazy. I have zero tolerance for people like that, including your "friend". He could go down as a accessory, unless of course he decided to turn on the scum sucking thief.

Good Luck my friend.

 

OK, already gave my .02 cents, but here is .02 more he he..

1) Go get a description of the quad, then go to the cops. If they can come up with the victim through their records, they will be more inclined to do something. Then they can set set up some sort of "sting" to get the scum sucking puke thief and the quad back. And your "friend" as a co-conspirator or accessory, wahoo.

If the cops find a victim and want to get it back and you want to stay out of it for the most part. Heres a good sting for ya. You can plan to meet the guy somewhere, anywhere actually. Have a time and place. Cops will sit down the road. You take the quad for a test ride down the street, which should probably illegal. Cops sees you and chases you down, or shows up a few minutes later saying a neighbor called and complained about you riding in the street. Could work.
2) Find somebody else (like me, he he), that is willing to step up and take this scum sucking maggott down. That'll set this guy up.
3) If you are a brave and bold soul, not afraid of much, get the dang thing back yourself. This is Only for the brave and No Fear type. If the cops get a victim, get ahold of him/her if possible. Take 'em with ya to check out the quad, or have 'em sit down the street with binoculars. Work out some kind of signal if he positively ID's the quad. He's either got a trailer or something with him for quick loading. Take the thing for a test spin and steal teh damn thing back. Wahoo. What's he gonna do, report his stolen quad that he stole in the first palce? Think Not. There are numerous way to make this work if think about it.
4) Buy me a plane ticket and I'll come steal it back, take the heat off of you.

I've got lots of creative ideas, but won't ramble on.

Go get 'em

 

The choice is easy for me. But, you have to make the choice and live with it. Now, how would you feel if your quad or anything else that you owned was stolen and you found out that someone had the opportunity to do something to recover it and didn't?
The very least you can do, is call your local police/sheriff dept. let them know what's going on and see if there is something you can work out with them. There is a lot of information that is lacking in this post that you may or may not know. But, only a investigation will determine that. Remember, law enforcement has to follow laws, procedures, policies etc. before they can walk into someones house. I know it's hard for the average citizen, especially a victim to think we should/could just go over to the thief's house or whatever and get their property back. Unfortunately, it's not always that easy.
Some of the ideas given about setting up a sting are good, but the last thing any peace officer wants to see is a civilian getting hurt. Plus, there are laws and agency policies that may affect how you can be used in a sting operation.
Now, as far as retaliation goes, it may or may not happen. Out of the thousands of investigations I've conducted, I can say very few have been the victim of retaliation(outside of domestic violence, but that's another story) Think of all burglaries that take place, when the burglars are caught, do you think the property owner is harrassed? Not very likely. Are they (thieves)happy no. But, for the most part they stay away from the victims. And remember, the police can't do it all on their own.
Do the very least, call the police, explain to them what you know, if they can't pick up the investigation without involving you and you don't want to become a witness, then so be it. But at least try to help the victim get their quad back. I believe your concience will feel better if you say, you did what you could without getting to involved, that it was the police who dropped the ball and couldn't get the victim's property back.
You don't need to verify the VIN on the quad or try to track down the owner, if the quad is reported stolen, then it should be entered into a nation wide system, that will give the agency all the information they need to get the owner his quad back.
Last but not least FIND NEW FRIENDS!!! Depending on laws where your at, he is an accessory to the stolen property. He is trying to help a so called friend sell a stolen bike.
Sounds like you need to do some self evaluations and find out what your priorities in life are. Bottom line is, true friends would not have put you in this predicament in the first place. Hope this sheds some light for you.

 

Just when you need expert advise an expert steps in.

Great advise rescuediver, I hope he listens to you.

I know I already said this but....DUMP THAT RIDING BUDDING!!

 

DUMP THAT RIDING BUDDY!!

Geez, I need to type slower.

 

Well this sure generated alot of debate. Thanks for all the input guys, but like it has been pointed out, I think I already had my mind made up and was looking for some reassurance from like minded individuals. I am not a thief nor do I associate with them. The guy that told me about the quad is not what I call a "friend" simply some one that I occasionally ride with. However, I agree with much of the opinions here and have decided that he is not someone to associate with. Think of the egg I would be wearing if someday he were trying to help a friend sell my quad without my consent. Now as for the overall situation, I do have a wife and kids to think about, but like maddog pointed out if we all decide that we have too much to lose to get involved then the theives have already gotten the upper hand and we would have given in to fear...... not going to happen. I guess I just wasn't sure if I should go out of my way to help in getting this guy caught. The conclusion that I have come to is how can I not? Like I said my buddy had a brand new Banshee stolen from him, so I can kind of see this from the other angle as well. I am going to tell my soon to be ex-riding companion that I am interested in the quad, get as much info on the guy and the machine as possible as turn the whole thing over to the cops and hope he gets what he deserves. If us decent citizens of society don't look out for each other than we've screwed ourselves. And although this guy supposedly didn't steal the quad he is dealing in stolen property. If there was no one out there willing to buy stolen goods there would be no one stealing. I still think about the possibility of retaliation, but that is partially due to the fact that the criminals have been allowed (by the courts and by people looking the other way) to feel empowered by using threats and getting their way. I think that we have to be willing to help each other out even if it means risking some minor inconvenience. Hopefully there won't be any hassles to come from this but if there are I will handle them and sleep well at night knowing that I did the right thing. As for issues of safety for myself and family, I hope that thought never crossed his mind because that's when I end up on the wrong side of the law. No way I would tolerate any threats against my family. I hope my seeking input on this doesn't leave the impression with any of you that I hang out with theives or other scum, I just needed time to think about the best way to handle it and get some support from others in the atv community. For that I thank everyone that responded, even if I didn't accept your advice. I look forward to a future post when I can (hopefully) tell you that he got caught. Thanks again all,
Cain

 

good for you Cane,

I hope everything goes well and the scum bag thief gets what he deserves.


i must say i was gobsmacked when i was aproached in the street anonamously with info about the bike i had stolen, i just felt bad that the good samaritan felt a few repercussions after doing so,

 

I congratulate you on your choice. It sounds like an excellent one.