Craig's list and the Bike Thief
last night before I left out of work an email popped up in the box
long story short...
a friend's wife's bike was stolen
this friend saw this same bike advertised on Craig's List
he was headed over to meet the salesman.... unsure what to do

having already played Robin Hood before, I slowed before I answered
it seemed to me that the adult way to handle this would be to call in a mediator
some sort of impartial arbitor.... maybe the police
there was mention of this tactic
also..... I shared my thoughts on the seat of your pants approach
making the decision after seeing what he was up against
guessing to see if this person would put up a stink only to drop the bike and run or clock my friend-take the bike-take my friend's wallet-take my friend's watch-then ride away
he agreed.... he would wing it
in most cases after a little discussion and mention of the police the thief will make an exit

on my way home I passed by the location where the bike transaction was to take place
uupon my arrival the police were already on the scene
the "suspect" was cool as a cucumber talking with officer one and officer two
the previous owner's husband waited across the street somewhat annoymously waiting for the police to make their decision
unregistered without papers in hand it seemed like a tough call for the cops to make
a simple case of he said/he said

not sure how it turned out
as I went home
but
I do know my friend got his bike back
hope it was without hassle
hope there is no future friction

UPDATE TO THIS STORY
as it turns out the person selling the bike was an "opportunist" not a thief
he had a reciept from a Pawn Shop for 120 bucks
so the original owner had to pay the 120 to get the bike
only to head to the Pawn Shop to try and get the money back from them
that is living in the city!