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In Reverse Heist, Woman Steals Back Her $1,000 Bike From Man Who Stole It

Kayla Smith, 33, is reunited with her 640,000 bicycle.
Kayla Smith, 33, is reunited with her 640,000 bicycle. | (Photo: Facebook/Kayla Smith)

A Vancouver woman impatient with the help she was getting from police in recovering her stolen $1,000 bicycle took matters into her own hands last week when she met up with the thief who tried fencing it on Craigslist. She told him she was taking it for a test ride and never looked back.

The woman, Kayla Smith, 33, a bartender, is lucky she was able to pull off the reverse heist under the circumstances in which she did it, according to Vancouver police in a report in The Globe And Mail, and discouraged anyone from following her lead.

The sassy biker, who likes doing splits in places she visits around the world, recounted the heart-racing details of the stealthy takedown in a post on reddit.

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Smith said she was really sad after her bike was stolen from her friend's house last Wednesday and quickly sought the help of the police.

"I woke up the next morning and made two calls. The first one was to the police to make a stolen bike report. The lady I spoke with told me I would receive a call later from an officer who would be doing a follow-up report. The second was to the bike store RIDE ON to get my serial numbers," she wrote.

An hour after Smith filed the stolen bike report, however, she received some news from a friend that a bike that looked like hers was being sold on Facebook.

"My friend calls me and says 'dude I think I found your bike [on] Craigslist,'" said Smith. And sure enough, the bike turned out to be hers.

"I looked at the post. He [thief] has posted from an address that was 2 blocks from where it [bike] was originally stolen. Immediately I called the police again and told them the information I received from my friend," wrote Smith.

The woman at the other end of the line, however, told Smith that someone would follow-up with her but it might not be the same day.

And that's when she took matters in her own hands.

"THIS GUY IS SELLING MY BIKE RIGHT NOW!!! I am not missing this opportunity waiting for a call. So I jump into action," she wrote.

"I called the guy up and made arrangements to meet him in half an hour at the main street McDonald's," she wrote. At this point, Smith had no idea how she planned on getting her bike back.

When she pulled into the McDonald's parking lot and saw the thief with her bike dressed in "board shorts, a raggy (sic) tank top and dark sketchy glasses. I noticed that it was my bike right away because of the RIDE ON stickers on the frame and the fact I have a silver handle bar plug on the left and a black one on the right."
At this point, Smith developed a small plan.

"I asked the guy if I could take it for a ride around the parking lot. He was weary and said 'yeah but don't take off…' I said not to worry that I would (sic) even think of it!" she said.

"My heart was pounding and I had no idea what to do so I just got on the bike and was like f*** this guy and started to ride," she said.

"As I was riding away, I called my friend who was driving to meet me as backup. I rode to the adjacent parking lot where she was pulling into as I was riding. We watched the guy start to look for me and he got super freaked out and he suddenly just took off running," she added.

Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost

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