Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

johnsouthwales
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Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

a white KTM chicago 19inch frame, 2009 model was stolen yesterday afternoon from outside the post office, quay street, ammanford at approx 3.20

Image
Last edited by johnsouthwales on 13 Jan 2013, 8:01pm, edited 1 time in total.
johnsouthwales
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Joined: 28 Oct 2012, 2:06pm

Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

what i'm afraid of here is, if they do catch the person who stole it (it may well be linked to other thefts, you never know), is what if it is damaged or something
Would i be stuck in a situation where i have to prove that a mark or whatever wasn't there before he took it? what if its been ridden rough and buggered up the gears. I know most nooks and crannies of my bike or would it be a case of my word against theirs.

at the end of the day, the bike is irreplaceable. you just cannot buy another like for like especially a 2009, unless by some quirk someone somewhere also has one for sale as they seem to be rare and the police are never interested in that kind of thing. just cold hard cash value is all they want to know.
Technically there could be one in a box somehwere floating about in the world in some warehouse, or some tiny bike shop in south africa or wherever.

I use my bike to get around because of a medical problem, and now someone has taken it, i can't get to the town which is only 15 mins walk, the reason i got the bike in the first place is to alleviate the medical problem.. it was a life saver. and without it now, i am stuffed big time. i can't walk without suffering uncomfort and pain, unless i grit my teeth and bare it.

I even asked the police if they manage to catch, would there be an additional charge of hate crime or something, or crime against disability. The police asked me if the thief knew i had a medical problem? I said how would i know? It seems by what they told me is that a person cannot be charged with hate crime unless the person knows that the other person has a disability and intentionally uses it against the person.

personally i don't like telling people my problem as it is my problem, and embarrassed in sharing personal information. maybe the person who took it had been watching the street and saw me limping when i was pushing the bike on the pedestrianised street or just about anywhere else. From the police point of view i guess is they have to prove they was watching me. And the only way to find that out is by catching and asking, and the likelyhood would deny it.

having a car stolen is bad enough, some people don't like having it back because they know someone else has been in it and intrusion. I guess it's the same with a motorbike, or a cycle.

The police said on saturday they will visit me tomorrow (which was yesterday) and never did. The cctv images are clear and the only person who can access the machine is the post office technician. how long that will take is unknown. It could be today, tomorrow...next week.
They said that they would circulate the pictures. From what i can see, they may circulate the pictures to other police stations and one or two maybe off on leave or sick and they won't see them them at all.

Jeez it would be much quicker to put the image on a police website or police facebook page in case a member of the public recognises, and facebookers pass on info much more quickly than the police ever would.. probably they wouldn't like that sort of thing just incase it upsets the thief or rile up the public.
It seems a bit harsh but what can you do in exceptional circumstances.

I thought the police were saying a couple of years ago that they are going to be taking bike thefts more seriously.
Last edited by johnsouthwales on 13 Jan 2013, 8:35pm, edited 2 times in total.
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meic
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by meic »

As a "local" I have seen the bike's picture and will keep my eyes open.

The only advice that I can offer is to expect the worst. Where as plenty of the local Police are sympathetic to cyclists (quite a large Police turnout on the local Sportives) the system doesnt give a damn.
Even if a Police Officer records the extra details about your bike nobody will use them. This crime will be classed as too petty to investigate, only luck or your own efforts will get results.

It is quite possible that your bike theft case may be solved in the future, as a "taken into consideration".

TIC is a handy system for clearing up petty crime statistics, the Police improve figures and the crook gets leniency for admitting the offences!! So everybody gains. :twisted: The Police tend to be very uncooperative with victims who want to pursue the offenders for compensation, they would not even give me the name of the offender. Their argument was that you could not get any money out of them any way, which is probably true but I would have liked to try, at the time.

You could improve your chances by posting on local cycling websites and visiting bike shops.
Remember, if you see your bike with another person that they could have bought it in good faith and may not be the thief and they will lose the bike as a punishment for not taking due care about what they were buying.
Yma o Hyd
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

hi meic, thanks for that, yeah i know what you mean by what you said.
Me as a person, i like to see anybody being free, being able to park their car without any worry, leave a bike outside the paper shop and it'll be there when you come out.. Like the saying is, in the old days were better when you could leave your back door open....

i think the police cannot give give details out because they may fear that someone just might go around a thiefs house and cause damage if they get to find out their address. even though the rest of it does appear that the police are actually preventing some form of justice, even if that justice is through the civil court. and preventing justice is basically harbouring a criminal and defeating the purpose.

i won't be suprised if the goverments over the decades didn't want to do a registration system that would prevent stolen bikes from being appsed on. all they need to do is a v5 type of registration.. but the authorities are only intersted in motorised vehicles.
It's a simple set up, register the frame, and if anybody sells the bike on, all they have to do is hand the certificate over.. actually, they do not need a government agency to impliment it, all they have to do is the manufacturer issues the certificate and put it in the box.

a new system would be awkward as there would be so many bikes around, someone has to prove it is their to register it anyway. it'll be no good a bike thief registering an already stolen bike.. and who the heck can prove the bike they bought on ebay or something was cosher in the first place.
This system could have been implimented in the 1970s and ever since... if you have no frame certificate, you cannot sell it.
Then again, i can walk into a second shop and ask them if they want to buy a telly. they would ask is it yours, i'd say aye.. ok, i'll give you fifty quid then...

car boot sales. adverts... somebody walking into tesco and putting up one of those little cards.. it's endless.

i spotted an advert earlier:
MOUNTAIN BIKE FOR SALEEE!!!!!!!
£50, London

I AM SELLING MY BIKE AS I GOT A NEW BIKE ITS GOOD CONDITION BRAKES WORK PERFECT BRAND NEW TYRES NEW TUBES WILL DO SWAPSS ARE WELCOME CALL ME ON

Now, if someone has got a new bike and selling their old one, why the hell do they want to do a swaps.
Maybe there is a rational answer but that doesn't make much sense to me but that's a rational opinion.
Of course people are entitled to have a second bike, but that doesn't sound quit right.. why swap when they already have a second bike? maybe my imagination is a bit wild but i wouldn't touch that with a barge pole.

anyway, i sent a message to the number asking what make and size it is, the reply came as not sure on the make, it's my brothers bike and the wheel size is 26

that says it al.. the selling sites allow adverts to appear. no photo, no manufacturer description. making it harder for people to trace them.

i texted back asking him to ask his brother what make it is....no reply
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

so far i'm spending around 2 hours a time. luck ebay has a newly listed feature which saves trawling through the lot, even though are different permutations on a listing, mountain bike and mountain bikes should show up exactly as each other but they don't. some bikes show up when searching for bicycles and they are another set of listings.

i won't be able to get another bike simply because i can't afford to. it's hard to believe that even if they catch him, he'll get less of a fine than someone who steals a mobile phone.. and a mobile phone is manufactured in the millions, bikes aren't.

It takes two seconds to steal a bike. someone could be walking with a bike on the street, lean a bike on a seat and they tie their shoelace....gone

Then again, a bike theft occured on ammanford square recently. the police didn't even bother giving the thief a warning as it was captured on cctv too.
the councillor was sent a detailed letter to look into the matter, and even he didn't bother chasing it up. I'd be livid if i found out a constituent brought up the matter and finding out the police did nowt when the thief is on the cctv recording. no wrod in the ear, no acaution, no warning, no arrest.

and the councillors are always banging on about crime, when they're doing nowt about it anyway.. and they got the cheek to say about anti social behaviour, and more worried about quay street being ready for chrsitmas.

i kept my bike in the house, i'd never leave it in the garden. the only time a bike was in the shed was back in the 70s. but it was cold and damp in there, still is.. most people haven't got the room in their houses. some people have loads of bikes in their house. well, in the kitchen, kids bikes but only because they have a big kitchen.

i can't even walk up to the town and look around, as it'll mess up the leg if if walk far. that's why i bought the bile in the first place was to see if it'll help with the condition... and when the police treat a bike as a possession or a toy.. then again, there is no difference between a bike theft and a telly theft, or a computer theft.. i bet you they would be more intersted if the thief held me at knifepoint to get the bike or forced. so what takes precedence, the bike or the threat? and somehow i doubt if it's the bike.
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

update: this is a bit contradictory. the police officer dealing with the theft in ammanford said that the cctv stills have been sent out to dyfed-powys police, and southwales police which covers swansea-merthyr-chepstow.
last night i rang to mention something and the officer is off for a week.. so much for progress and updates. how can i get an update if the officer is away?
anyway, the sergeant i spoke to last night said the cctv still maybe sent out to other stations. i pointed something out, what if you sent out the stills and somebody is on leave and won't see them at all? and it could well be the person who was off on leave may well know who it is. no reply

i suggested for them to save time and effort, why don't you just put up the photo of the bike thief in the police website, and issue the picture to the press so they can issue an appeal that way? or are they afraid that the public are doing something more than they are? no reply.

the police attempted to discourage me from doing an appeal. they said they are not going to issue cctv images to the media everytime a bike theft takes place. i said i digress from this because just how many cctv images actually capture a bike theft? a lot of newspaper websites publish a photo issued by that police force, what do the police here have to hide? why are they reluctant to publish? then again, i was told by the reporter that southwales police do issue photos to the media but dyfed-powys don't... strange

i was told that ammanford is a relatively crime free area (whatever that is supposed to mean) or are they more concerned about their image, and they don't want to cause a fuss?
A reporter mentioned this morning that if it is crime free then they have more time to investigate, and she was right.

so, which way did the thief go? if up to the square, either turn right, left or straight on as there is cctv there too, which may not have been manned. also there is cctv at the bottom of quay street which was installed around 2005. can't miss it, a solid steel tower. wonder if that ever has been switched on. plus the new cctv at the new bus station. obvious the thief had to arrive at the town somehow. maybe used the cashpoint. now that would give a clue who it is....bank account number, a name even. anything at all that could suggest movements prior to the theft and after.

the other policeofficer says they are not local. i thought what do you mean they? how many more are there. i thought it was just the one, but apparently it was said that someone was peering into the postoffice as a lookout. so, if the police cannot be buttocked to look at the town square cctv to see which way they went, that gives the inpression overall they have downgraded bike theft.

why? if it was someone local, they know which way to go. so if the police are saying they are not local, how do they know which way to go? if they went straight at the square, they knew where they were going. i don't think they turned right because i went round the back of the postoffice and emerged back in high st and would have passed me.

i suggested to the police what if it's a guy with a van? and the police say to me no it wasn't a man in a van. well, they are hardly likely to stash a bike in ford focus are they.. so, if they had no van and there were two of them, where would they go.

an email was sent from ktm to me this morning as well, he said that i was the only person to buy a white ktm chicago 19 inch in 2009. and that my bike was more than rare... that sums it up.

as far as i'm concerned, my bike was the only one in wales.
Last edited by johnsouthwales on 13 Jan 2013, 8:43pm, edited 1 time in total.
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meic
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by meic »

I dont know if you feel bothered enough but our local MP (who has his office there in Ammanford) did say on the radio that one of his main interests was cycling*. So you may get a sympathetic ear there.




*Which rather surprised me as the last time I met him he was seeing me off on a bike ride and expressed no interest in coming with us, may be we inspired him :D
Yma o Hyd
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

i gather you are talking about rhodri thomas?

i don' see why dyfed-powys police are reluctant to issue the cctv photo of the thief. the media have been trying to get in touch with their press office all week.

and here is another suprise. i asked yesterday who exactly gets to see the cctv photos? the reply was everyone. ok, half an hour later when i'm in a shop, i saw an officer and i asked if he has seen the footage? and he said no.

it is obvious not everyone sees the footage, and that could mean that if the rest of them haven't a clue who the thief is, who is to tell that the person who doesn't see the footage doesn't know the culprit? maybe the person who hasn't seen the photos may actually know the person.
If this is the case nationally, and from what i gather if someone does see the cctv pics say today for example, the person who saw them would forget about it by next week.

If they released the pics to the press at immediately, there would be a stronger chance of someone in the public knowing who he is than the police, and would have saved time and more efficient
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meic
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by meic »

No the other one, Jonathon Edwards.

My personal feeling is that the Police are too busy with other "more important" things.

It will get worse, I have the feeling that Ammanford Police station will close its counter in the near future and you will be offered an "improved service". ie a van in the car park twice a week.

Then they have the cheek to brag that reported crime is down. :evil:
Yma o Hyd
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

meic, the counter has closed and ystrad.

oh, i spoke with an officer, he says there are loads of bike thefts in ammanford. me and a mate were looking at each other in amazement when he said it.
i thought really? first i heard of it it.. the officer says there's a shedful of bikes at the back of the station. i asked him have they been accumulated over a year and he said no.

that's a bit strange as if there were bike thefts, it would have been in the guardian or journal or people talkimg generally.. but we started thinking, what kind of bikes are we talking about here. are we talking about lost and found, abandoned or seized during raids. or a pile of kids bikes left in the parks and nobody's been bothered to ask. Or a mixture of the lot.
And since ammanford area covers far more than the town, they could have just about accumulated from anywhere, and giving a false impression.

Probably some youngters bikes that were taking from them by bigger boys and then dumped more like.

Maybe some kids have been to the station and asking for their bike back, and the police say you can't have it cos you can't prove it's yours. It could have been a christmas or birthday present, and most youngters haven't a clue what the frame number is anyway so they're stuffed.

as for general thefts, i can't comment on that or should i say i'm not going to because i don't think it occurs, and especially i won't know what's going in the other areas because it doesn't get reported in the press, so if it is going on, they are suppressing it. If bikes are getting taken in crosshands, that should stay in crosshands and not shifted onto ammanford's figures and the bike shed round the back.
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meic
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by meic »

I agree that I havent heard of a bike theft this side of Llanelli/Swansea.
I do lock my bike when I park in Ammanford, unless it has the trailer on. As do all the other club members when we ride there but they lock them everywhere.

As I ride about I see lots of bikes in yards and gardens unlocked, they are all of pretty limited value for resale and generally ignored. I imagine quite a few of them get stolen for a couple of hours and dumped and this is what is filling the Police Station sheds. I bet most of them are not even reported stolen.

I dont suppose the Police will allow you to have a look at all the bikes stored in the local Police stations and I have no faith that they will have bothered going through their own stock when you reported it stolen, unless it is on some computer and easily done.
Yma o Hyd
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

that was the good thing about this area, you can basically leave things around and it'll be there when you come back.
i really can't remember anything happening before. i 'm trying to think back as far as i can and i'm coming unstuck about anybody saying they had a bike taken.. i know someone had a motorcycle taken 20 years ago up in llangadog and that was it.

as you know too it is unheard of. and yeah, i know what you mean by things left in gardens and under trees. kids leave their scooters and stuff out overnight and it's still there in the morning. all towns should be like that. If anything did go missing, either someon'es borrowed it or it's returned quickly enough and no harm done.

when i was going to the co-op. i was parking the bike inside lol, but i couldn't do that anymore because they changed the layout on the left as soon as you go in. and some odd looks when i go to lloyds bank, in it goes. they didn't mind at all and raised some smiles from behind the desk.
go to lidl and nip in for one thing and leave it unlocked and it'll be there. the only time i leave it unlocked at tesco if i'm only nipping in very quickly for cigs was at the old store enterance - dam i cracked a rear wheel relector on the metal bar near the floor, a freak thing happened, it got caught between two joins or there was a small gap between the two. all other times it is locked especially at the new store. if i can't see it or going to be a while, it gets locked.

go to the butchers and leave it outside, after all you can see the bike from the counter anyway and only four metres away when you think about it. you always feel safe at home. Saying that, i would never have left left it unlocked if i went to llanelli or swansea. i'd be a bag of nerves in case someone nicked the back light never mind the bike.

If i remember right, i locked the bike to a gate when i went somewhere.. think that was on the gower way when i went to the lliw valley reservoir on the way back from the mynydd y betws windfarm. 8pm, in the middle of the forestry, nbody around and i lock the bike to a gate lol. now who on earth would be around at that time of night. not that i was untrusting but a just in case scenario. even up on the mountain, lock it in case the windfarm workers hid it when i'm walking around the turbine sites.

It seems so strange. Nobody will know if he's been up to anything else until they catch him, and the chances are that he has. it's a case of waiting now to see if the police release the pictures and then they will only be relying on others to do their job - if he is from wales at all that is. If he wasn't working alone and gets caught, he's hardly going to let them know the identity of the other. Then again, i looked at the possibilty of if it wasn't him it would have been someone else, so there are some people floating about looking at the town. If there's nothing here, they'll move onto another...and somebody else will take their place eventually
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

aafter spending over 900k on the new paving, pear trees and shiny new bins - not one single bike rack. they always say park the bike in sight if you're going to be more than 10 mins, that doesn't seem to make much sense if there are some by the bus station and down the bottom end. quite a bit of room outside iceland for a couple or maybe four
johnsouthwales
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by johnsouthwales »

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Polic ... story.html

ALL crimes in Ammanford were solved by police last month.

At a town council meeting last week, Ammanford police officer, PC Kevin Jones, told councillors that the town had a 100 per cent crime detection rate during October.

All of the 26 crimes carried out in the Ammanford area, including four assaults, five drug offences and seven thefts, were discovered by police.

PC Jones said: "It shows that the boys and girls are working hard to try to keep Ammanford safe. A total of 26 crimes for a town the size of Ammanford is not too bad and a 100 per cent detection rate is great."

erm, is that true? The council meeting was last tuesday, november the 6th.. how can ammanford crime detection rate be 100%? the bike theft occured oct 27th
what else has been witheld from the council and the press?
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meic
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Re: Ammanford - KTM Chicago MTB Stolen

Post by meic »

Somewhat of a golden opportunity to contact The Carmarthen Journal and offer them a scoop story about Police misleading the press/public.

You have got an incident number havent you?

Oh, on reading the comments section, I see that you have already done just that. :D
Yma o Hyd
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