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Bike theft paints P.A. in bad light




Published on September 29, 2009
Published on November 3, 2009
Staff ~ The Prince Albert Daily Herald  RSS Feed

I recently spent an hour looking for my son's friend's 18-speed bike, a white MUD DAWG 9 stolen Thursday evening out of the back yard. Although we tried cruising all the neighborhoods of the West Flat, it was to no avail (we live on MacArthur Drive).

Topics :
The Herald , Daily Herald , Prince Albert , Calgary

Letters to the Editor -

Editor,

The Herald:

I recently spent an hour looking for my son's friend's 18-speed bike, a white MUD DAWG 9 stolen Thursday evening out of the back yard. Although we tried cruising all the neighborhoods of the West Flat, it was to no avail (we live on MacArthur Drive). My son's friend is devastated by this event because the bike was a Christmas gift was from his grandparents living in Calgary. Also, he just turned 13 yesterday and was spending the evening doing what kids do, having fun and playing games.

What makes it all the more aggravating for me is that my son's friend and his family are moving back to Calgary after spending the year in P.A. What a parting gift this was for him.

To the kid/kids who stole the bike, you are without morals, without empathy, without remorse and definitely without any sense of common decency that you would enter a yard and take what is very clearly not yours. I have no doubt you will be in our overcrowded correctional facilities or penitentiary in the not too distant future, you scumbag. To the parent (s) of whoever did this, your pathetic and obviously less-than-stellar parental skills are what is so sad in this scenario. Perhaps if you looked after your offspring just a little better, hugged them a few extra times, spent more time ensuring they were properly educated and ethically strong, parents wouldn't feel compelled to write angry letters to the Daily Herald.

I haven't bothered reporting to the police, they have more important things to do. The final kicker is my son's friend's younger brother's bike was stolen just three weeks ago from their own home on 14th Street West. What a great picture P.A. paints, thanks to these lowlifes.

TJ Merasty

Prince Albert

Comments

  • Username
    Fed up!
    - November 20, 2009 at 15:03:09

    We have also had countless bikes taken...and then my son whose bike was stolen used his birthday money from his 9th birthday to buy a new one with a very expensive lock. Two weeks later because they couldn't get the bike they just stold the back tire. These kids are getting worse and worse everyday. What I don't understand is if my child came home with a strange bike I would demand to know where it came from and if they had stold it they wouldn't be sitting down for the rest of the summer and would also be taking it back to the owner with a apology. Why do these parents allow their children to be theives at such a young age. Do your job people!!!

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  • Username
    hmmmmm
    - November 20, 2009 at 14:09:32

    Yesser from Alberta - thank God you are in Alberta! Way to go making this come out as a huge race issue with absolutely nothing in the original letter indicating same! Dummy up and do what many others have written here, take ownership for problems! You chose to blame everyone for current problems with many young people...well many people are tired of that and are in no way responsible for those issues! Go back to the original issue of kids/teenagers having no supervision and parents not caring! This has NOTHING to do with race so if you have children, please teach them ownership and right from wrong instead of enabling them! I am sorry but if one of my children was out 'late at night' and came home with a bike I didn't buy - I be on them hard core! To those of you that feel it is quite all right to take other people's property, I do hope that what goes around, comes around! How about getting a J.O.B. to buy your own stuff? And to those of you dissing the west flat, read other posts, it is happening ALL OVER TOWN and I am certain Prince Albert is not the only city experiencing this! WTG Vigilance maybe if these thievers knew there would be unpleasant consequences (and I do not care what race they are so don't go there) they would not be so quick to do this!

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  • Username
    chelawee
    - November 20, 2009 at 12:33:20

    move out of the westflat

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  • Username
    vigilance
    - November 20, 2009 at 11:33:36

    my bike was stolen a month after moving into a decent neighborhood in p.a. police said they couldn't do anything which is understandable considering these pieces of trash are everywhere it seems. found the non-white male riding my bike a few nights later. the only fear that these punks will have is the fear that i put into this thief that night. i got my bike back and after a few choice words and swings with my baseball bat, he was left in the middle of the street bleeding. this is what p.a. needs to do. take things into your own hands and put fear back into people like this. as for yesser, tell your people to take responsibilty for their own actions instead of crying and blaming it on anybody else besides them. your people have more advantages and hand-outs than any other people in this country so maybe start using them instead of abusing them.

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  • Username
    B
    - November 20, 2009 at 10:02:35

    This is happening all over the city. We live in one of the newer areas of town, and we have had 2 bikes stolen. The last time, our neighbors saw them trying to take the bike and put the run on them. We woke up in the morning to find that the thieves came back in the night with bolt cutters or something and cut the thick steel lock off the bike.
    In my job I have had opportunity to work some of these kids who are out doing this kind of thing, and they will tell you straight out, they KNOW nothing will happen to them if they get caught. They aren't out doing it because they want your bike necassarily, but instead, it's like recreation for them. The same way other kids would go to the movies or go play soccer or something, they go out stealing bikes, or shop lifting, or vandalizing. And it was shocking to me about how casual a lot of them were about it. Like it was no big deal and there was no thought as to the people they were hurting.
    I don't honestly know what the answer to this problem is, but it IS a real problem, and it is getting worse everyday. These kids need to know there are consequences, and they need to have other positive things to occupy their time.

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  • Username
    ConcernedinPA
    - November 20, 2009 at 06:07:08

    My son's BMX got stolen from our apartment complex too, about two weeks ago. Checked the police compound, nothing . We live on the east hill. Crappy, frustrating thing is, my son worked his butt off to earn the money to buy that bike all by himself. Who ever it was, sure as heck knew what they were doing, because even the darn lock is gone. Must be packing some bolt cutters.

    And, Yesser From Alberta .... How in the world does 'race' happen to be an issue in this article. This is an offence that does not know boundaries. It's all about bikes being STOLEN and how frustrating it is!!!!!!!!!!!

    Get with the program already!

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  • Username
    Understand
    - November 20, 2009 at 04:48:58

    The police do not care about bikes. I did search for mine and found them in Midtown area and we live on the east flat close to 15th street. Even after finding them I had a hard time getting an officer to assist me in getting them back. After getting two sets of bikes stolen from us, I was angry. All I can say is to leave nothing unattended in a yard. Lock, Lock and Lock.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    Walker
    - November 20, 2009 at 02:30:55

    You are not standing alone. Well done.

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  • Username
    Interested Party
    - November 19, 2009 at 14:32:42

    If the police/justice system doesent want to deal with these problems, then it is up to us, the citizens of PA to take back our city from the scumbags...by extreme force if needed

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  • Username
    reality
    - November 19, 2009 at 11:00:14

    Welcome to PA!

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  • Username
    Killjoy
    - November 19, 2009 at 03:18:38

    The legal system is not very concerned about crimes against you and me. But when the govt or a corporation is the victim or you take the law into your own hands you'll get sent away for a very long time.

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    fed_up_too
    - November 19, 2009 at 02:46:53

    My wife's purse with IDs, watch and money was stolen right inside our house, I tried to go after the culprit but he was gone, I could still smell then the nicotine and alcohol from the guy.
    I reported to the city police, I was told that they would go to the house to investigate, but nobody came.
    These lowlifes have guts and nothing to lose. If I hit one of them with a bat, most probably, I'll lose everything.
    Good for them, they are protected by law!
    Very third world indeed.

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  • Username
    yesser
    - November 19, 2009 at 00:18:34

    why r u guys complaining bout a problem ur white society made...by all these residential schools and the need to always be in control of a person that is different just becuz the colour of there skin or the way they talk walk or act. Like u guys dont even knw bout the hard stuff these kids go through on a daily basis just trying to survive and yet u r willing to pass judgement onto them for something ur society created long time ago...open up ur eyes and smell the coffee...instead of passing judgement and always complaining start doing something bout it!!!!!

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  • Username
    DTS
    - November 18, 2009 at 21:23:10

    Ten years ago, I was caught with a stolen bike that i didnt know was stolen and sentenced to a month in a juvinille detention camp (doe jack).That was then, what happened to the hard times. These kids are getting a love tap, when they should get the whip...

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  • Username
    B
    - November 18, 2009 at 18:43:02

    Yesser... first of all, YOU are the first person making a comment that involves race. No mention of white or aboriginal or black or anything before this. Crimes are being committed by kids of all different races, and people of all different races are being victimized. It gets very tiring to constantly have that race card thrown down, and blame being thrown around. We cannot change the past, but we can do something about our futures. Instead of distracting from the problem, why don't you get on board and HELP everyone who is concerned and wanting to make a difference and help our youth, and make our city safer and prosperous? Or is it safer to just sit back and hurl accusations and insults annonomously?

    Submit a Comment

  • Username
    Al
    - November 18, 2009 at 18:34:04

    Yesser... you've highlighted the biggest issue and cause of most of the problem. It's not my/our fault. It's someone else's fault I'm/we're so bad.

    We need to get over who's at fault and get on with making our lives better. The only one who will truely care about you is you. Use every tool that's available and the most powerful tool is education. With it, you can make your own way and without it, you're toast.

    Stop blaming and get educated!

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  • Username
    Andy S.
    - November 18, 2009 at 17:03:18

    TJ - I truly empathize with you. We chose to leave Prince Albert a few years ago to raise our children in another community. This was a difficult decision, but we felt that PA was not a safe, respectful community any more. Our new community is much safer and we don't worry about these problems anymore. It is sad, as PA is a beautiful city with a rich past and potentially bright future - but it still comes down to the fact that the citizens define the community. It is what it is.

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