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The Bike Thieves of Burlington, Vermont
NYTimes ^ | 11/13/2022

Posted on 11/13/2022 6:10:02 AM PST by devane617

Burlington, Vt., is a bike-friendly city. There are multiple bike stores, a network of bright green bike lanes on many major streets and a waterfront bike path with views of the dazzling sunsets over Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains.

Burlington’s bike culture and natural beauty convinced Julie Williams to settle there after graduating from the University of Vermont 10 years ago. She also liked the city’s progressive politics, which started the career of Bernie Sanders, a former Burlington mayor. “I feel like I fit in here,” said Ms. Williams, who operates Betty’s Bikes, which she named after her grandmother.

But this spring, she noticed a troubling trend: A large number of people were calling the store asking whether Ms. Williams had seen their missing bicycles. “I was getting five or six calls a day,” she said.

Bike theft has long been a problem in Burlington, a city of about 45,000 residents, but it seemed to intensify over the summer and into the fall. Bikes were disappearing from front porches, garages and bike racks. Mountain bikes, carbon-fiber race bikes, children’s bikes — all gone. The university warned students returning to campus that about 220 bikes, valued at $267,000, had been stolen in and around the city since June.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: crime; theft; vermont; vigilante
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This is a fairly long article. It's about a group of people on Facebook and in the city of Burlington that banded together to stop bicycle theft.

If this happened and white male conservatives were doing this they would be branded vigilantes and under DOJ/FBI investigation.

1 posted on 11/13/2022 6:10:02 AM PST by devane617
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To: devane617
220 bikes, valued at $267,000

Average value over $1,200. Sounds like some interesting insurance claims.

2 posted on 11/13/2022 6:13:05 AM PST by Bernard (“the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." JFK 1-20-61)
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To: devane617

Uh, didn’t they authorize taking other folks hard earned property as acceptable recently or does it start Jan 1. 🤔


3 posted on 11/13/2022 6:15:52 AM PST by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this? 😕)
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To: Bernard

When Texas gets hit with major droughts they find cars reported stolen in the lakes.


4 posted on 11/13/2022 6:15:55 AM PST by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: devane617

The people of Burlington complaining about bike theft? That’s not very progressive of them. They should be cheering the distribution of wealth.


5 posted on 11/13/2022 6:18:24 AM PST by EvilCapitalist (81 million votes my ass.)
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To: devane617

I sold a Trek mountain bike a few years ago to a man for his son that was starting college at UTK. He called shortly after to say that the bike was stolen off the bike rack at the college while his son was in class. He asked if I had the paperwork with the serial number on it because they had located the bike (in Amish country of course) and in order to claim it he needed the serial number. I did have all of the information and he was able to recover the bike.

Most colleges and hospitals seem to be located near the seedy parts of town and bike thefts are common. Bikes are easy to get away with fast and most people don’t keep the serial numbers. This guy and his son got lucky. Treks aren’t cheap and I didn’t give it away.


6 posted on 11/13/2022 6:24:13 AM PST by Tennessee Conservative (Shegens on Truth Social 🐝)
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To: Bernard

Haven’t price decent bikes lately have you.


7 posted on 11/13/2022 6:33:23 AM PST by riverrunner
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To: devane617

Reading the article reveals bike theft is the tip of the iceberg. Having gone all-in on defunding the police, the town of Burlington is now “unexpectedly” facing the fallout.

- They can’t recruit enough new cops
- Theft is on the rise
- Violent crime is on the rise
- Meth use is now on the rise

Leftists destroy everything, yet they can’t connect cause and effect.


8 posted on 11/13/2022 6:34:46 AM PST by Flick Lives (Cui bono)
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To: devane617

This reminds me of living in Carlsbad NM back in 1961. Everyone had to lock up their bikes due to thefts.

In 1971, I visited Santa Fe NM. There on the SE corner of the square was a large parking lot with a light pole. Around that light pole was a chained up bicycle frame. NO wheels, handle bars, chains or pedals. Just a frame.


9 posted on 11/13/2022 6:37:39 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar ( FR is on GAB! https://gab.com/groups/67851)
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To: devane617

Is bike theft a crime in Vermont?


10 posted on 11/13/2022 6:37:42 AM PST by stevem
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To: Rurudyne

My wife was raised in Plano TX on an acreage with an abandoned gravel pit full of water.
Years later, that pit was pumped out and lots of autos were found at the bottom of it.


11 posted on 11/13/2022 6:39:56 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar ( FR is on GAB! https://gab.com/groups/67851)
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To: rktman

Any State that supports a Bernie Sanders candidate deserves what they get.


12 posted on 11/13/2022 6:44:43 AM PST by chopperk
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To: EvilCapitalist


Ah!

Mussolini knew what to do with the bastards.

1536


13 posted on 11/13/2022 6:44:55 AM PST by golux
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To: devane617

The article is long and very detailed.

And it’s really rich in truth, if you just read past the propaganda.

The residents of Burlington wanted specific changes, they formed coalitions, they voted for the changes - and now they have them.

As JD Vance says as bullet #1 on his website: “American decline was a choice”.

Burlington is a perfect example. The people voted for what they wanted and got it. What’s the problem?


14 posted on 11/13/2022 6:48:29 AM PST by Jim Noble (The Decline of America is a Choice )
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

I have seen that happen in Seattle, where a well secured bike just loses parts over a period of time, until nothing of value is left to be stripped.


15 posted on 11/13/2022 6:53:00 AM PST by allblues (God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat but Satan is definitely a Democrat)
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To: Bernard

$1200 is nothing for a bike nowadays.


16 posted on 11/13/2022 7:08:13 AM PST by dinodino ( )
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To: devane617

I pass by homeless encampments all the time here in California where I see lots of new, pristine, expensive bikes all around the tents.

There is a LOT of theft here - people report bikes being stolen off of second story balconies.

My family and I ride a lot and have nice bikes - mine are behind a locked gate, inside a locked garage - and are still locked up at all times - on our bikes, the actual frame itself locks with a key - we do that, use titanium u-locks and make sure the console is off of the bikes as well.

Even then, thieves broke into my son-in-law’s garage, stole the old bikes but couldn’t budge the new bikes b/c the frames were locked.

It seems nowhere is save from these thieves.


17 posted on 11/13/2022 7:27:43 AM PST by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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To: allblues

My daughter has seat locks on her bikes in the Bay Area - she says they’re stolen off of bikes all the damn time.


18 posted on 11/13/2022 7:28:19 AM PST by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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To: Flick Lives
Leftists destroy everything, yet they can’t connect cause and effect.

Oh they do. Their cause and effect is Trump, guns, "White Supremaicsts" and Republicans.

19 posted on 11/13/2022 7:30:27 AM PST by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
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To: rktman

Good one.

Yeah, they told us that there should be no private property.


20 posted on 11/13/2022 7:37:33 AM PST by Bigg Red (Trump will be sworn in under a shower of confetti made from the tattered remains of the Rat Party.)
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