Craigslist Bike Thief Thwarted By Vancouver Vigilante’s Trick


A Craigslist bike thief thought he was being clever when he stole a bicycle and flipped it on the localized, bare-bones messaging site — but the ride’s real owner managed to beat him at his already very simplistic game.

The tale of the Craigslist bike thief emerged like many of its ilk on Reddit, where the Vancouver woman who bested the burglar explained her story while the adrenaline wore off.

We should preface the Craigslist bike thief story with the caution that attempting to right your own wrongs with criminals is a risky gambit at best, and while no one should stand by and be bullied or stolen from, the sort of person that hurts others so carelessly probably wouldn’t feel too badly about hurting them physically, too.

Still, it’s hard not to cheer the woman on her her quick thinking and bravery in the post, where she explains that her beloved bike was stolen — and that she put out a call on social media for friends to keep their eyes peeled.

Most of us would expect never to see our bikes again — but Kayla Smith lucked out. About an hour later, her friend called to say she’d spotted what looked like Kayla’s bike… for sale on Craigslist.

Smith said that the police weren’t incredibly motivated to intervene, and she was forced to take matters into her own hands. She arranged a meeting at a “sketchy” McDonald’s with the man who stole her bike… and what happened next was pretty cool.

In her own words, Smith says:

“I asked the guy if I could take it for a ride around the parking lot. He was weary and said ‘yeah but don’t take off…’ I said not to worry that I would [not] even think of it! My heart was pounding and I had no idea what to do so I just got on the bike and was like f*** this guy and started to ride.”

Smith continues:

“As I was riding away, I called my friend who was driving to meet me as backup. I rode to the adjacent parking lot where she was pulling into as I was riding. We watched the guy start to look for me and he got super freaked out and he suddenly just took off running.”

You can read the entire Craigslist bike thief story as told by bike avenger Kayla Smith over on Reddit, with a bonus picture of her mooning critics. What do you think of Smith’s actions — bad ass, or bad idea?

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