i had a great kayak rigged for fishing that was stolen from my dock on the Indian River Lagoon a couple of weeks ago. I called the Sheriff and filled out the report and pretty much thought I'd never see it again.
A few days ago, I was looking on Craigslist, and noticed a kayak for sale that seemed to be mine, and I could tell by the way the post was written that the seller didn't know a thing about kayaks.
I E-mailed the poster for a description of the kayak and his reply described my stolen boat exactly! At this point, I called the cops and was told to go ahead and try and set up a time and place to meet.
When I got the information back from the idiot who stole my boat, I called the cops with the address, and they got pretty excited about it. Turns out that this guy was well known and was already on probation for stealing an ATV and some other stuff, and had just turned 18 so he could be charged as an adult now.
I met 3 investigators at a local store, and they sent me in to get the guy to come out while they waited around the corner. I pulled up to this skanky trailer with the door open and a guy with no shirt on (how come they never have shirts on when you watch COPS?) hollered out the door at me and I said I was here to buy a kayak from so-and-so. He yelled back that so-and-so was in the shower but he'll get him out.
At this point the cops came out, surrounded the trailer and got the idiot out of the shower, and sure enough, he pulled my kayak out from under his trailer and was arrested and taken away. I got my kayak back!
The stupid part of the story was how this idiot posted my kayak for sale on Craigslist in the same town that I lived in and described it enough that I could identify it and lead the cops to his door and get it back. This moron only lived about 6 miles from my house! As a bonus, there was another stolen kayak that he also had listed on Craigslist, so that owner got his property back as well.
Needless to say, I know have my kayak, canoe, and my Key West 2020 secured with high quality locks, chains, and security lighting to prevent this from happening again. Sometimes the goods guys really do win.
A few days ago, I was looking on Craigslist, and noticed a kayak for sale that seemed to be mine, and I could tell by the way the post was written that the seller didn't know a thing about kayaks.
I E-mailed the poster for a description of the kayak and his reply described my stolen boat exactly! At this point, I called the cops and was told to go ahead and try and set up a time and place to meet.
When I got the information back from the idiot who stole my boat, I called the cops with the address, and they got pretty excited about it. Turns out that this guy was well known and was already on probation for stealing an ATV and some other stuff, and had just turned 18 so he could be charged as an adult now.
I met 3 investigators at a local store, and they sent me in to get the guy to come out while they waited around the corner. I pulled up to this skanky trailer with the door open and a guy with no shirt on (how come they never have shirts on when you watch COPS?) hollered out the door at me and I said I was here to buy a kayak from so-and-so. He yelled back that so-and-so was in the shower but he'll get him out.
At this point the cops came out, surrounded the trailer and got the idiot out of the shower, and sure enough, he pulled my kayak out from under his trailer and was arrested and taken away. I got my kayak back!
The stupid part of the story was how this idiot posted my kayak for sale on Craigslist in the same town that I lived in and described it enough that I could identify it and lead the cops to his door and get it back. This moron only lived about 6 miles from my house! As a bonus, there was another stolen kayak that he also had listed on Craigslist, so that owner got his property back as well.
Needless to say, I know have my kayak, canoe, and my Key West 2020 secured with high quality locks, chains, and security lighting to prevent this from happening again. Sometimes the goods guys really do win.
