Ram Cycles Gaithersburg, MD

[Mr. Mixer]

It's not that the cops don't want to do anything, it's that they can't.  

The law probably reads "taken WITHOUT consent".  It also usually mentions "with the intent to permenantly deprive the owner of the property".

I have had to tell many people this after they loaned their car out to a friend, who then doesn't return it upon the agreed upon time.

We did have a limit that if the car wasn't returned by X many days, then we would list the car as stolen.  Until then, there was nothing we could do except put out a BOLO (Be On Look Out) for the vehicle.

What you describe is pretty impossible to prove the "without consent", and "depriving" parts of the law.

If you gave it to the guy for service AND it is still sitting in the guys shop, there is nothing the police can do.  It is a civil case.  Police have little to no power when this happens.  They can't break the door down and get your property back.  Even if you could see it sitting in the shop.

Now if the guy is out and riding your bike after the shop has closed down, that is an entirely different story.

I totally get why it isn't possible for the police to do anything, but at some point, what started as service becomes theft if one doesn't have ones' property returned. At least, I would have thought that that was the case. According to the officer I spoke with, that isn't what happens. It becomes a civil case with disputed property. Great for the lawyers, not so great for me....

[Skybarney]

Lawyers - Bad
Thief - Bad
Victim broke paying lawyer - Bad

Boy I miss the good old days where you would just drag the guy out of his house and reclaim your goods.  I got burgled once in a little mountain town and managed to figure out who did it faster than the cops did.  The cops came to my house to take the info accidentally dropped a copy of the guys personal info, home address, drivers license and social on my desk.  That was after mentioning that they had little resources to deal with home burglaries.  I managed to catch and hold him for arrest, it was a little messy as he resisted arrest.....  Scumbags are scumbags and they should be dealt with on a level they understand.

*Disclaimer*  The above is not "advice".
     

[Howie]

*Disclaimer*  The above is not "advice".

Mr. Mixer, I hope all works out well.

[red baron]

....  Scumbags are scumbags and they should be dealt with on a level they understand.


   

Indeed.  

Should have "invited" him over.  

[Rudemouthsky]

*Disclaimer*  The above is not "advice".
     

[Statler]

conversion.

Value of s4r is district court stuff in MD.

[Mr. Mixer]

UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE-UPDATE

Alex just called me. He has been out of town due to an illness in his family - I had been told this by the folks in the business next to his yesterday when I went by there to see what I could see, so I don't think it's B.S.

While there has been bad press from some people about him, once again, he has treated me decently. Everyone is different, and folks treated the same way will often perceive things in radically different ways. While I'm sure that issues that left a bad taste in some folks' mouths could have been handled better by Alex, overall he has treated me pretty decently. I wish I had heard from him about his business issues before getting the info from a third party, but I'm thinking things happened pretty quickly with the sudden health issue.

He offered to deliver my bike to me, as it currently isn't running, so I should have it back in my living room in a couple of days.

Thanks for all the advice and help you guys have provided.

[Skybarney]

Very glad to hear it worked out with having to employ a team of sharks and hunters.   


In my experience people that are into motorcycles can be quite passionate.  We do not however always make the best decisions.  It is our nature.  Facts are that we ride a vehicle that in its natural state is already laying on its side.  We ride it between massive chunks of moving steel on a surface that is abrasive.  Just when that is going well we then try to get that bike leaned over to as close to it's natural state as we can.

Nope we don't always make the best decisions.