Security marked bike returns to owner 28 years after it was stolen

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It pays to security mark your bike to prove that ownership of that bike is yours in case it gets stolen and recovered by police (Click here for our guide to bike security). You never know, one day, that prized possession may just turn up back at your door.

Bikes do get returned to their rightful owners through security marking even some years after they are stolen as one Canadian chap can testify to. He’s been reunited with his stolen bike after 28 years.

Detective work

Tony Roche had his 10-speed Norco road bike stolen outside a pub in Victoria, Canada, three decades ago but the bike was returned to him after police managed to locate him from a number Mr Roche had etched onto the frame of the bike.

The bike had been handed into a police station in the state of Victoria in December. Police there noticed a nine digit number engraved into the frame and with some digging finally managed to work out it was an old national social security number. The number was then tapped into the relevant government database and paired it with Mr Roche.

Mr Roche told Canadian news website CTV British Columbia (CTVBC) that he hadn’t seen the bike in 28 years but vividly remembered the details of the theft from outside the pub.

“The irony of it was that I locked mine and the guy that I was with had a much better bike and didn’t lock his up.”

Another stolen bike

Though Mr Roche was grateful for the detective work of local police, he had hoped that police were contacting him about another bike (an electric bike) of his that had been stolen recently.

Alas Mr Roche has not engraved his social security number on this bike.


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See also

Don’t forget bike security in the New Year

Cycle hire scheme boosts cycling numbers in London, claims TfL

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