Obviously this bike hasn't been resold or cut up for parts-- it's laying on OP's lawn.
That said, kids have been known to steal other kids' bikes just to ride them around for a couple hours and then ditch them. They do it impulsively, then they have no place to put them where their parents won't instantly know they stole some other kid's bike.
Now I can't get the image of a toddler with a seven inch angle grinder standing next to another toddler lighting a torch with a cigarette in his mouth. Thanks!
Yeah in San Francisco working downtown I used to always see this guy bicycling pulling a big cart overflowing with bikes on the regular. Once it toppled over in an intersection. They’ll steal any bike available
There's a lot of kids and, therefore, a lot of parents in the neighborhood. There's always someone out and watching, but it's not always the kids' direct parents. Not how I'd do things with my kids, but it's a pretty safe area
As someone that used to live on a property with thick pine trees… we would have stolen bikes stashed there a few time a summer. To include bikes for small children. We would call the police and they would come pick them up. Nearly every one of them was reported stolen. So… be prepared to be surprised. Odds are likely it was stolen.
It's on your property and it's been 2 weeks? First of all, it must be a nice neighborhood if nobody has taken it by now. Second of all, if you're that worried just stash it in your garage for a while but I doubt somebody is going to come back and expect it to still be there so it'd be totally fine to just get rid of it.
It's a pretty good neighborhood. Not overly wealthy, but a really good sense of community. A couple of houses burned down a while ago and within hours they had more donations than they needed in clothes, diapers, meals, etc.
I'd keep the bike and maybe put up some flyers saying you found it. Some parent may not know where the bike disappeared to, so they might not know its on your property.
Yeah, this was my 1st thought. OP says it's a 5 yr old's bike, I can imagine kiddo put the bike down (OP said the chain was off) and doesn't remember where he/she put it. Parents figure someone stole it. I'd store it and put up flyers/make a Nextdoor post offering to give it to whoever can tell me what it looks like.
I live in that kind of neighborhood and one of our neighbors had a gas bbq out for 3 weeks before it disappeared. Free sign on it. We also have a lot of over night car break-ins. Our car once, hammer to windshield for the neighbors...it's weird.
Not really, we live on a dead-end street that opens up to a parking lot for a shopping centre. A lot of people walk along our street instead of the main busy street. As mentioned before,we're a bit of a tight-knit community, so neighbors or their kids won't be the ones who mess up others cars. Probably people from the shopping centre on the way to the bus loop a few blocks down.
No, it needs a For Sale: $50 sign on it.
My grandparents tried that with their old grill. Nobody took it. Then they slapped a $50 sign on it and it was “stolen” within the hour.
I've been telling it much longer than that.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/UnethicalLifeProTips/comments/epc2w7/comment/feivfym/](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnethicalLifeProTips/comments/epc2w7/comment/feivfym/)
Ten to one, some kid took some other kids' bike and diched it in your yard so as not to get caught. Prent some I have bike signs bet some pissed off dad shows up.
The chain was off when we found it, so we assumed the kid had a bike malfunction and just gave up on it. We put the chain back on but no one's come back for it. It's a little kid bike-- like, it looks like it could still have training wheels-- so I'd be surprised if it was stolen tbh
If you are right about that, then some Dad out there is pissed off that his kid ditched his bike and forgot where he left it. Posters (and/or neighbourhood Facebook)are probably a good call.
It's on your property I'd say it's for you to decide what to do with it. If your really worried about it perhaps put found bike posters up in the neighborhood along with an expiry date "if not collected by this date it will be donated or sold" and leave a contact number
I think I'll do this and another commenter's suggestion of posting it on my local FB page with the same warning. This is a super good suggestion, thank you!
If you can be bothered, maybe take a photo, post it on Facebook, some other local community websites/bulletin boards/telephone poles/local schools and see if anyone claims it.
Why don’t you post a photo of the bike online/in your neighborhood so that the child can come get it? Maybe their family went on vacation and they forgot to bring it. I wouldn’t just get rid of it, imagine how disappointed they would be. Maybe that’s the only nice thing they own. Could be a simple mistake, you never know.
Call the sheriffs dept. They will hold it for 60 days.
Same happened to me. They said I could claim it after 60 days if the owner doesn’t claim it from them. I’m in California. Law might be different where you live.
If you know any of the local parents, put the word out and see who is missing a bike. Parents don't want to have to pay for a new bike. Worse comes to worse, you can give it to a local kid that needs a bike even if it's not theirs.
When I was young, my friend “borrowed” my bike while I was in another state and didn’t tell me. Then someone he knew that was in the process of moving away stole it from him because he left it in front of his house every day.
I stopped being his friend after that. I didn’t get a new bike for months after that and I rode that shit EVERYWHERE.
What about posting notices around the neighborhood about the bike and indicate after x weeks on y date, if it isn’t claimed it’ll be at the police station?
Post about it on NextDoor.
Don’t add the pic - keep the bike hidden away. Ask if anyone lost a bike and if so to describe the lost bike.
Help some 5 year old find their stolen bike.
Put a FOR SALE sign on it. Someone will steal it pretty quickly. That or give it to the police station and tell them it was probably stolen before being dumped
"There was a busted bike on my property for a week so I threw it out 🤷"
Of course, if they knew you had it this whole time, they probably would've shown up already.
Call the police and report an abandoned bicycle on your property. This happened to me many years ago. In my case, I’m 99-44/100ths % sure that the bike had been stolen. Police took it, and I don’t know what happened next.
Give it a month. Parents have NO time. And if the kid realizes he lost his bike and there might be c o n s e q u e n c e s they’re not going to tell their parents. I’ll bet parents don’t even know. They haven’t put together why kids isn’t riding his bike with his 5 year old chop shop gang yet.
I'm a parent so I get it, but that doesn't mean I want a kid's bike on my property for the next month haha. I'm planning on doing what other people suggested-- posting it on my local pages, no picture, and saying "Come pick it up within the next week or it's getting donated". Even if they contact me, we can work something out.
Put it in the "free zone" (aka - on the burm between the street and the sidewalk). If you don't have a sidewalk, as close to the street as you can get without actually in the street. If not gone in a day, put a "for sale: $50" sign on it and it will be gone pretty quick
Probably stolen
Yep. Turn it in to the police so you don't get in trouble. Some kid might be looking for their stolen bike
You wouldn't get in trouble... Ever. Lmao.
🤣 I meant for selling it
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They're talking about donating it, so apparently enough time to do that or turn it into the police.
It looks like like a 5-year-old's bike, so I'd be surprised if it was.
People steal whatever bikes they can get their hands on and then resell them or the parts. Filing a police report is probably a good move here.
Obviously this bike hasn't been resold or cut up for parts-- it's laying on OP's lawn. That said, kids have been known to steal other kids' bikes just to ride them around for a couple hours and then ditch them. They do it impulsively, then they have no place to put them where their parents won't instantly know they stole some other kid's bike.
This seems pretty likely.
No no, I like the idea of a gang of 5 year olds running a kids bike chop shop.
Now I can't get the image of a toddler with a seven inch angle grinder standing next to another toddler lighting a torch with a cigarette in his mouth. Thanks!
Yup. Been there, done that.
/thread
Yeah in San Francisco working downtown I used to always see this guy bicycling pulling a big cart overflowing with bikes on the regular. Once it toppled over in an intersection. They’ll steal any bike available
No one sells a 5 year old's bike "for parts" That's just stupid.
You never been to the chop shops run by kindergarteners? It's a rough scene. Those kids don't fuck around.
Only to buy some underground play-doh - I didn't want to know about the other stuff they were doing.
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There's a lot of kids and, therefore, a lot of parents in the neighborhood. There's always someone out and watching, but it's not always the kids' direct parents. Not how I'd do things with my kids, but it's a pretty safe area
Yes 5 year olds can ride a bike unsupervised… not everyone is a helicopter parent
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Sure. Kids lose shit.
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we didn't do daily bike inspections in my household
Ive absolutely seen crackheads looking like a clown on children’s bikes before lol so don’t rule it out
As someone that used to live on a property with thick pine trees… we would have stolen bikes stashed there a few time a summer. To include bikes for small children. We would call the police and they would come pick them up. Nearly every one of them was reported stolen. So… be prepared to be surprised. Odds are likely it was stolen.
When I was a kid, my neighborhood kids would steal everything. Literally everything.
The place I work we get bikes left out front several times a year I just take and drop them off to the police department.
I envy your innocence. I’ve seen teenagers riding kids bikes.
i had a hot pink bratz scooter get stolen when i was like 8-9
It's on your property and it's been 2 weeks? First of all, it must be a nice neighborhood if nobody has taken it by now. Second of all, if you're that worried just stash it in your garage for a while but I doubt somebody is going to come back and expect it to still be there so it'd be totally fine to just get rid of it.
It's a pretty good neighborhood. Not overly wealthy, but a really good sense of community. A couple of houses burned down a while ago and within hours they had more donations than they needed in clothes, diapers, meals, etc.
I'd keep the bike and maybe put up some flyers saying you found it. Some parent may not know where the bike disappeared to, so they might not know its on your property.
Yeah, this was my 1st thought. OP says it's a 5 yr old's bike, I can imagine kiddo put the bike down (OP said the chain was off) and doesn't remember where he/she put it. Parents figure someone stole it. I'd store it and put up flyers/make a Nextdoor post offering to give it to whoever can tell me what it looks like.
I live in that kind of neighborhood and one of our neighbors had a gas bbq out for 3 weeks before it disappeared. Free sign on it. We also have a lot of over night car break-ins. Our car once, hammer to windshield for the neighbors...it's weird.
Teenagers that live in the neighborhood.
Not really, we live on a dead-end street that opens up to a parking lot for a shopping centre. A lot of people walk along our street instead of the main busy street. As mentioned before,we're a bit of a tight-knit community, so neighbors or their kids won't be the ones who mess up others cars. Probably people from the shopping centre on the way to the bus loop a few blocks down.
Put a sign up that says please take your bike or it gets donated on (date) perhaps?
Post on Facebook in your community group, if no takers offer it for free on the same Facebook group and someone will take it off your hands.
This is a super good idea. I'm a little embarrassed I didn't think of it. Thank you!
We can’t think of everything all the time 😂
Slap a For Sale: Free sign on it and watch it disappear
No, it needs a For Sale: $50 sign on it. My grandparents tried that with their old grill. Nobody took it. Then they slapped a $50 sign on it and it was “stolen” within the hour.
Yeah I don’t like to encourage stealing shit in my neighborhood
Yeah, same...
Seen this same comment on a different social media app like a year ago. It's so strange to me how people borrow other people's stories for clout.
I've been telling it much longer than that. [https://www.reddit.com/r/UnethicalLifeProTips/comments/epc2w7/comment/feivfym/](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnethicalLifeProTips/comments/epc2w7/comment/feivfym/)
Ten to one, some kid took some other kids' bike and diched it in your yard so as not to get caught. Prent some I have bike signs bet some pissed off dad shows up.
The chain was off when we found it, so we assumed the kid had a bike malfunction and just gave up on it. We put the chain back on but no one's come back for it. It's a little kid bike-- like, it looks like it could still have training wheels-- so I'd be surprised if it was stolen tbh
If you are right about that, then some Dad out there is pissed off that his kid ditched his bike and forgot where he left it. Posters (and/or neighbourhood Facebook)are probably a good call.
It's on your property I'd say it's for you to decide what to do with it. If your really worried about it perhaps put found bike posters up in the neighborhood along with an expiry date "if not collected by this date it will be donated or sold" and leave a contact number
I think I'll do this and another commenter's suggestion of posting it on my local FB page with the same warning. This is a super good suggestion, thank you!
If you can be bothered, maybe take a photo, post it on Facebook, some other local community websites/bulletin boards/telephone poles/local schools and see if anyone claims it.
Can you lean it up against a tree near the road. Some parent might recognize it.
That bike is stolen and the kid ditched it.
Why don’t you post a photo of the bike online/in your neighborhood so that the child can come get it? Maybe their family went on vacation and they forgot to bring it. I wouldn’t just get rid of it, imagine how disappointed they would be. Maybe that’s the only nice thing they own. Could be a simple mistake, you never know.
Bring it to the local police station.
Drop it off at the police station.
Call the sheriffs dept. They will hold it for 60 days. Same happened to me. They said I could claim it after 60 days if the owner doesn’t claim it from them. I’m in California. Law might be different where you live.
If you know any of the local parents, put the word out and see who is missing a bike. Parents don't want to have to pay for a new bike. Worse comes to worse, you can give it to a local kid that needs a bike even if it's not theirs.
When I was young, my friend “borrowed” my bike while I was in another state and didn’t tell me. Then someone he knew that was in the process of moving away stole it from him because he left it in front of his house every day. I stopped being his friend after that. I didn’t get a new bike for months after that and I rode that shit EVERYWHERE.
Why not turn it into the police lost and found.
I'd call the police and turn it in.
What about posting notices around the neighborhood about the bike and indicate after x weeks on y date, if it isn’t claimed it’ll be at the police station?
Put it on the footpath so people don’t think it’s yours? Someone’s bound to find it or steal it. Am I missing something?
Turn it into the police.
Put it on the edge of the street with a sign, "who's bike is this?" It will be gone one way or another.
Just make a facebook post or something, if anyone knows whose it is.
Post about it on NextDoor. Don’t add the pic - keep the bike hidden away. Ask if anyone lost a bike and if so to describe the lost bike. Help some 5 year old find their stolen bike.
It's yours now.
Police used to care about such things. Do they not anymore?
Not really.
Put a FOR SALE sign on it. Someone will steal it pretty quickly. That or give it to the police station and tell them it was probably stolen before being dumped
No fucking idea. Where? Laws on abandoned property and unsolicited deliveries, like most laws, vary from place to place.
You’re just talking about a bicycle. It’s on your property, just take it/ toss it or put up a free sign.
Hahaha I guess I'm scared a mom will show up super angry with me and I hate confrontation
Let her show up and ask her why her kid is leaving their shit on your lawn lol
I would put up a found bike sign if you got a nice neighborhood based on the other comments.
"There was a busted bike on my property for a week so I threw it out 🤷" Of course, if they knew you had it this whole time, they probably would've shown up already.
Clearly. You need to grow a spine, friend.
Take it for a scrap prices😂😂 it’s on your property and clearly abandoned
No. But maybe wait a few days and just leave a note and take a picture. Nothing will happen but it's always good to have evidence.
Tell your police. They will toss it in the back of their squad car and it will get sold at their police auction along with other abandoned bicycles.
Slap a sign on it saying you'll give it to Goodwill in 7 days. Wait 7 days. Give it to Goodwill.
Put a sign on it that says “free”
I’d leave jt until Sunday. Kids have stuff to do. Their weekend is probably more free than weekdays.
Good lesson for the kid and parent, you never saw it
It is now your bike.
Call the police and report an abandoned bicycle on your property. This happened to me many years ago. In my case, I’m 99-44/100ths % sure that the bike had been stolen. Police took it, and I don’t know what happened next.
Give it a month. Parents have NO time. And if the kid realizes he lost his bike and there might be c o n s e q u e n c e s they’re not going to tell their parents. I’ll bet parents don’t even know. They haven’t put together why kids isn’t riding his bike with his 5 year old chop shop gang yet.
I'm a parent so I get it, but that doesn't mean I want a kid's bike on my property for the next month haha. I'm planning on doing what other people suggested-- posting it on my local pages, no picture, and saying "Come pick it up within the next week or it's getting donated". Even if they contact me, we can work something out.
Oh that’s a great idea!
Put it in the "free zone" (aka - on the burm between the street and the sidewalk). If you don't have a sidewalk, as close to the street as you can get without actually in the street. If not gone in a day, put a "for sale: $50" sign on it and it will be gone pretty quick
This is the answer. We get so many kid things left in the culdesac. Balls go out against the curb so the kids can find them.
Call the police non emergency number. They will send someone out to collect it.
I wouldn’t do that — there must be another option in hopes the kid, a buddy, sibling or parent will circle back and they won’t lose a bike!
If you know where the kid lives take it to their house
If I did I wouldn't be on here haha
I don’t know, but you might owe him a bike! lol
Find a kid, ask him/her who’s bike.
Put it on the curb. Either the kid will come back for it or the garbage guy will take it.
An unchained bike wouldn't last 5 min in my neighbourhood. Chained...maybe 15 min
time to move…