Deserving praise

I'll often go onto Craigslist (I hope to find an affordable tandem on there some day). Today there was an interesting post about a bike thief vigilante:

To the owner of the red velosport locked to a tree at yonge/ college.

Your wheel got ripped off today, I chased the guy down and got it back. I tried to screw it back on as best as I could but you may want to take a wrench to it before you ride again.

Happy Riding!

...Another reason to always carry a #15 wrench.

Whoever did this good deed deserves praise. Bike thieves act with impunity in this city. This happened right across the street from police headquarters.

Photo of Bay and College by Mike Stich.

Antidote for Igorosis

I'm in agreement with TorontoCranks that something fishy was going on with Igor. Theories are abounding. For my money, the most convincing arguments are

1. He was involved with organized crime, and
   
2. He was selling bikes at a loss to attract junkies to buy his drugs

In any case, renting a series of garages to store stolen bikes in perpetuity is a money losing proposition unless there is something else going on.

There is definitely more going on than has been reported so far, and it is a bit unsettling.
photo lifted from eyeteeth

I read a nice story on the opposite side of the coin, where some law enforcement officials (presuming that security guards count) replaced a kids bike that was stolen on their watch. Maybe the Toronto Police should be doing this! Read on:

But then on Saturday, we got a call from the library: "We've got Seven's bike." A quick drive, all high-fives and woo-hoos, and we were at the Central Library to fetch the prodigal bike.

Only it wasn't the one that had been taken: it was a new Schwinn BMX bike, just his height   and paid for out-of-pocket by several of the guards.