Bicycle theft is a secret form of taking someone else's property, one of the most common illegal acts.
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In order for an act to be recognized as theft, it must satisfy the following criteria:
- it must be theft;
- such theft of a bicycle must be secret;
- when committing the act, violence or the threat of its use was not used (for example, threats to security guards);
- there was no authority to dispose of the item of theft.
Important!
if the theft is carried out openly, then this entails much more serious consequences - urgently consult with a lawyer
Important!
Theft can be recognized as both a crime and a misdemeanor
Having decided what Bicycle Theft is, you should find out for yourself what the amount of the theft was, more or less than 2,000 rubles.
Important!
How correctly the bike is assessed will determine the choice - criminal or administrative liability awaits a person for such theft, so be sure to consult a professional lawyer.
You can almost always return an item!
The main thing is to know the procedure and use the law correctly. Get information for free from lawyers via chat (bottom right ↘️)
You can do this using this link, or in the form on this site at the bottom right.
Concept
The concept of bicycle theft implies the unauthorized taking of a vehicle and its transportation by mechanical or automatic means to another place.
Of course, unauthorized taking is expressed in an action , which, by the way, can only be committed if there is direct intent.
Of course, when studying the concept of bicycle theft, you need to understand what a bicycle is in principle.
A bicycle is a two-wheeled vehicle that is driven by mechanical force, in this case by the legs.
That is, it is impossible to commit a crime of this kind through inaction. This is what legal theorists emphasize.
It is also worth remembering that the theft of a bicycle is the starting point, the line between a criminal offense of moderate gravity and a serious one.
It all depends on whether the president approves this bill and whether amendments will be made to the articles.
Hijacking
What happens when a bike is stolen?
Stealing a bicycle certainly an offence .
But for some reason the legislator has not yet taken any steps to reflect such a crime in the code.
That is why, when discussing the issues of bicycle theft, it is worth turning to such articles of the Criminal Code as theft, robbery, or robbery.
Accordingly, this is Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and 162 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
It is these articles that regulate such an act as theft of property, because a bicycle in its essence in relation to its direct owner is movable property , which is direct property, which means it can be stolen , abducted and appropriated in other ways.
Theft
Now let's talk about theft in more detail. What is theft in principle as a crime?
This is an act that is committed secretly and this action represents the misappropriation of someone else's property .
To give an example, this is an invisible appropriation , when the owner does not see or suspect that such an act is being committed.
Bicycle theft is the illegal appropriation of transport while it is out of sight of the owner, that is, secretly.
This can be done in the entrance, office, on the street or even from a living space.
The article of theft is regulated in the Criminal Code in Article 158 . It is in this article that not only the very essence of theft as a crime is revealed, but also the direct punishment for the crime is derived.
Theft
Who is a thief himself? This is a person who systematically carries out thefts, that is, actions of appropriating someone else’s property.
Bicycle thief is not a very criminal title, but it prevents citizens from feeling confident leaving their property unattended for a moment.
A thief is, first of all, a criminal , who, as a rule, has previously been charged with similar charges.
Orphan scooters
“Of course, scooters are being stolen more and more often. The popularity of this means of transportation is growing, and besides, the scooter is mobile and technically not difficult to steal. The best way to protect yourself from a thief is to put the scooter in your apartment and take it with you to the store. Now, for example, many parents buy a scooter first for their child, and then for themselves, for 8-15 thousand rubles. It’s a lot of money, but the scooter is often treated as a toy, left in the lobby or at the entrance, where it becomes easy prey for thieves,” says Alexander Nilov, organizer of the Let’s kick Moscow urban scooter movement.
Photo: Vitaly Belousov / RIA Novosti
According to Nilov, unlike a bicycle, it is still better to keep a scooter at home, especially since folding models take up minimal space. An expert on such transport with a cable, for example, at a store, is by no means a panacea for thieves, since they have long been keen on using such means of protection.
“The folding scooter is compact, you can easily go into any store with it. Conflicts with security because of this are extremely rare; Moreover, security officials sometimes offer to look after the buyer’s scooter. Of course, this won’t work with a bicycle—in any case, you’ll have to leave it in the parking lot,” the expert notes.
Types of thefts
Due to the fact that a bicycle is a fairly common vehicle, there are many types of theft .
So, for example, the following types are distinguished:
- Theft of a bicycle secured in a bicycle rack ;
- Bicycle theft from a public corridor ;
- Taking a bicycle away from its owner using force ;
- Bicycle theft from the entrance .
Agree, all these types of crimes are found everywhere, now it’s worth talking about them in more detail.
The entrance is not a safe place to keep your property. The fact is that the entrance to the entrance can be opened both for decent residents of your entrance and for criminals.
Many cases occur in connection with the theft of strollers and other movable items that constitute property.
This crime is provoked by the negligence of the owners themselves , who themselves give the criminals the opportunity to profit from the abandoned bicycles.
Other types of crime include bicycle theft . Essentially, this is the same robbery , so you need to be more careful when it comes to transporting bicycles.
So, for example, if you know that you have to go to a crime-ridden area of the city, think several times before heading there.
It is also common for bicycles to be stolen from offices .
In fact, this is practically the same as stealing bicycles from entrances.
Owners of two-wheeled vehicles do not care about their safety and, as a result, lose them.
Thieves have a keen eye for trends
Why has crime's interest in bicycles increased so sharply? The answer has to do with economics. At the request of Lenta.ru, experts from the online service for selling goods and services Avito analyzed how often users search for light means of transportation on the site. As it turned out, in June 2021, bicycles turned out to be the most popular product on the resource. Demand for them has increased sequentially since March, and overall they were searched 96.5 percent more often than a year earlier.
The number of searches for the tag “scooter” increased by 28 percent compared to last year. The word “hoverboard” was entered into the search bar almost eight times more often than in 2016, and the indicator for the “unicycle” tag increased by 64 percent in just one month.
Photo: Ben Larcey/Flickr
These types of transport are becoming more and more fashionable, and their expensive modifications are appearing on sale, which is what attracts the attention of criminals.
“When purchasing bikes, we recommend meeting the seller in person and asking for a receipt and paperwork. If they are not preserved, you should check the serial number of the vehicle - as a rule, it is marked on the frame. If the number is missing, it may have been erased on purpose, and then it’s worth looking for other offers,” the organization’s specialists note.
Corpus delicti
The object of this crime is property relations . They are the ones that are violated in the event of theft.
The objective side is understood as a certain kind of action, in our case – the unlawful taking of a two-wheeled vehicle .
The subjective side is expressed in motive and purpose . This is exactly what the criminal wanted when he committed the crime. That is, the crime can be considered targeted.
The subject of this crime is a person who has reached the age of sixteen and is fully sane and capable.
What types of sanctions are provided for by the Criminal Code?
Petty theft is the first of the possible elements of an unlawful act. Due to its insignificance, it constitutes an administrative offense under Art. 7.27 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. A proportionate punishment is a fine, arrest or compulsory labor.
As for criminal law, the basis for assigning a sanction is the principle of proportionality of the act, part of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Depending on the presence or absence of qualifying characteristics, one or more types of punishments are assigned from the following:
- fine;
- compulsory work - after study or work;
- correctional work - part of the salary is deducted at the official place of employment;
- restriction of freedom - supervision of a convicted person in society by law enforcement agencies;
- forced labor - the place of work is determined by the executive system;
- arrest;
- deprivation of liberty.
The amount of punishment is related to the severity of the theft (Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) as follows:
- according to Part 1. Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, a term of imprisonment of no more than 2 years - minor gravity;
- under Part 2 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - up to 5 years - medium severity;
- under Part 3 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - up to 6 years - a serious crime;
- according to Part 4. Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - up to 10 years - a serious crime.
Thus, the punishment determines the severity of the crime, and the severity category affects how quickly the criminal record will be expunged after the convicted person has served his sentence.
Bicycle theft report
easy
to file a report of a stolen bicycle .
You can compose it yourself on a special form, or you can compose it at home on an A4 sheet.
The application must contain information about you, the bicycle, and the circumstances of its theft.
Where to call?
If your bike is stolen, you need to call the nearest police station .
Perhaps, without delay, they will be able to apprehend the criminal.
Where to contact?
must also contact your local police department . You need to come there with a previously prepared application and declare your rights to the vehicle.
It’s good if you have a receipt for the purchase of a bicycle or at least a passport. If you do not have such documents, invite witnesses who will confirm the fact that you have a bicycle.
How to write?
Writing such a statement is quite simple if you have the necessary documents with you.
The police department will help you with drawing up such a statement.
Your main responsibility is to correctly list all the facts .
Bicycle raids and self-defense
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Bicycle thefts have become so numerous that special preventive measures have begun to be taken in the capital to suppress such crimes.
“In the summer, there was an instruction to the district departments to bring in cyclists who are suspicious, check them and even fingerprint them if there are grounds,” says a district police officer from Moscow.
Due to the increasing frequency of thefts, the police began to pay special attention to cyclists themselves. Now any of them can come under suspicion if, in the opinion of the police, the rider’s appearance is suspicious. “There are no new introductory or regulatory acts in this regard; patrol officers are simply directed to obvious inconsistencies. Well, for example, an adult man on a teenage bike. Or a person in non-sportswear driving an expensive road model,” explains an officer from one of the Moscow regional police departments. In such cases, as a rule, the rider is asked to present a passport. If similar bicycles were stolen that day, he may even be asked to go to the department. In some regions, special raids were carried out at the beginning of the cycling season. For example, in Yoshkar-Ola, as part of the “Stop Bicycle Theft” event, serial numbers of bicycles of citizens who agreed to cooperate with the police were recorded on the streets.
Ministry of Internal Affairs
Screenshot of a video from the Ministry of Internal Affairs: a suspect in a series of thefts steals a bicycle from a residential building
Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation
“If a bicycle is seized as part of a criminal case, it is later presented to the victim for identification in a group of similar objects (at least three) as part of the investigative action,” says a police source.
A Moscow businessman's bicycle was stolen
“A bicycle is primarily identified by a unique frame number and special features that distinguish it from similar ones,” says the author of the “VeloRozysk” project, Sergey Aristov from Yekaterinburg. “And the reason for checking is often the discrepancy between the owner and the bicycle due to many factors. For example, inappropriate place of sale, low price. Sometimes you notice how the seller describes his bike in the ad.
All bikes have a frame serial number. It can be found in the pedal junction area - under the carriage. But not only there, on some models the code is printed on the front and rear forks. According to Aristov, a stolen bicycle is discovered, as a rule, during the purchase.
Sergei’s project began more than 10 years ago, and during this time almost 200 bicycles were found. And not only in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region - the public eventually became interregional.
great
Photo: Depositphotos
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“My bike was stolen 10 years ago, but I managed to get it back thanks to the vigilance of forum members of a thematic resource for cyclists who noticed a similar bike and told me where to look for it,” says Sergei. “After that, I decided to start helping other cyclists.
According to Sergei, for checks an up-to-date common database was needed - this was the first step. The second is a personal example in finding and returning stolen bicycles. The third is the development of mutual assistance in the cycling community, including among victims. The social activist considers these points to be the main pillars on which successful counteraction to criminals is built.
According to Sergei, in his native Yekaterinburg, stolen bicycles are centrally transported to the suburbs, where they are sold in order to avoid identification of the bicycle by the owner. This indicates organized illegal activity in the sale of stolen goods. In large cities, everything is much simpler - in a city with a population of millions, the risk for a criminal to expose a criminal vehicle is several times lower.
Bicycles were proposed to be marked
This will help reduce prices for goods and increase collections into the budget.
Punishment and responsibility
For this crime, liability is provided in the form of material compensation, that is, a fine, as well as imprisonment.
The fine may be in the amount of several wages and this is at the discretion of the court.
Time limit for stealing a bicycle
Stealing bicycles carries a prison sentence . As a rule, it can reach two years in prison. A colony is usually a general regime colony or a settlement.
What to do if there is a theft
There are several signs indicating theft:
- Damaged locks.
- Lack of property.
- Scattered things.
If you find any of them, you must call the police. If the door to the apartment is open, then this must be done without delay and under no circumstances enter the room. Scattered things should not be touched, thereby removing traces of the criminal. This will make the work of law enforcement agencies difficult, and the chance of catching the thief will be significantly reduced. It is advisable to provide receipts for stolen property to prove that it was there. It is better to give a detailed description of things with photographs. By law, you can contact the police both in writing and orally. The employee receiving the application is required to register the application with the date and time, indicating his data and information about the victim. A receipt must be issued, from which time the proceedings begin.
Also read: What is petty theft and up to what amount is it considered petty?
Examples from judicial practice
Bicycle thefts occur in our country no less frequently than in Europe , where the bicycle is the main method of transportation.
Case No. 1
An example of bicycle theft is an incident that occurred in Orel in 2012.
The owner of the two-wheeler left his vehicle on the staircase , chaining the bicycle to the entrance grate.
But this did not stop the criminals from sawing off the metal chain and, while the owner lost his vigilance, leaving in an unknown direction.
Case No. 2
As for theft, another significant case occurred in Moscow.
In one of the forest parks, the attackers forcibly a couple and fled with it in an unknown direction.
All these examples are very indicative and teach owners of two-wheeled vehicles to be more careful , and also not to leave their property unattended , because this is fraught with various consequences that may not be very pleasant for your wallet and moral health.
“Bike theft” through the eyes of the police
“Bicycle thefts are a seasonal crime, they are committed from April to October, when people are riding. They steal most often from publicly accessible places - in entrances, from apartment hallways, near shops. Usually the owners themselves are partly to blame for the theft - they are not attentive enough to their own property: they leave it unattended and sometimes do not use even the simplest anti-theft means,” says a criminal investigation officer from one of the Moscow Department of Internal Affairs.
According to Lenta.ru’s interlocutor, last year 50 bicycle thefts were registered in the territory for which his department is responsible. Around six thousand “iron horses” are being stolen throughout Moscow - however, this is not official data, voiced at one of the operational meetings.
Photo: Artem Zhitenev / RIA Novosti
“Not a single hoverboard has been stolen on our territory yet: this is probably due to the fact that they are expensive and no one leaves them just like that. We have recorded several thefts of scooters, but in general they are rarely attacked: they are collapsible vehicles, you can go into a store with them, and there is no need to leave them on the street. So, most often, bicycles are stolen,” explains the law enforcement officer.
The standard scheme for selling criminally obtained property is selling through free classifieds websites. Sometimes it gets ridiculous - stolen two-wheelers are sold right on the street. “The thief simply tells the first person he meets, they say, this is his old bicycle or scooter, he urgently needs money, and therefore he is ready to part with his transport for half, or even a third of the price,” says the detective. The main thing is to get rid of the stolen goods as quickly as possible. The detective notes that a typical bicycle thief is a young man, most likely with a previous conviction, or a drug addict who needs money for a dose.
“Bicycle theft is a crime when you should look for the thief among your friends or local residents. An attacker may notice the item, but only steal it a month later. This is what happens with drug addicts - they get pressured, and they go to work,” explains the policeman.
But there are also thieves who can be considered pros in this area. Those, of course, “don’t work” where they live.
“Especially a few years ago, this practice was in vogue: bicycles were taken away from Moscow. Thieves with two-wheeled vehicles boarded trains and went to flea markets in the Moscow region, where they sold their loot. Now bicycles and similar vehicles are “pushed” right in the capital. Even if the thief can be caught, it is almost impossible to find a buyer,” says the policeman.
The most “advanced” ones cooperate with dealers who dismantle sports equipment for spare parts - it’s more difficult to calculate, and the gain may turn out to be more significant. But organizing this “business” is more difficult.
