I've got it back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bayardo8]

nice job on getting your kite back!!!!! extra special season for you!!!

[adamrod]

okay. so, now that you got it back. what would you do differently? any words of wisdom for 1. not getting your stuff stolen and 2. getting it back when it does?

[alison]

And I really mean that!

Jana and Larry certainly knew that it was stolen gear when I told them my kite had been stolen and they didn't email me back but described it to Mary (me) over the phone as a kite instead of a windsurfer. That was early days.

Also, Someone walks up tp you and offers you a brand new something big and sporty and incredibly well made (just the backpack) and a bunch of gear and only wants a hundred dollars? I doubt it was the first time they'd ever bought hot stuff from him.

And I'm all over prosecuting thieves and stopping this craziness. That's why I kept insisting on the cops in the first place.

But, these guys changed their minds and yes I paid them for my stuff. And yes, if they knew they were buying stolen gear they shouldn't have bought it in the first place, nor do they deserve getting their money back.

But that was $2000 worth of gear that I was never ever going to see again. I felt like I was being given a gift. Not only did I find out just how much this means to me by really and truly losing it. BUT I got it back for something I can afford. What I can't afford is gambling that the police will come through do and just save my pennies for a month or two if they don't. It ewould be a year at least before I could afford this kite again.

I know everyone likes their kite, and I haven't even flown this one yet, but I believe the formerly unhappy WW customers who are raving about it. Read the posts and look at the wind graphs on the WW forum. They're damn persuasive.

And, These guys were exposing themselves to get me my gear back b/c one of us called them on it (I don'lt want to publish the name until I hear that it's O.K.) and that was so cool.

It's not like I want to reward parasitic behavior but they were taking a risk when they called me. And will they ever do that again if I set the cops on them? That was my question.

And what happens to them if a bunch of cops starts questioning them on the street. Am I putting them in danger (yes they started it and it's not like they don't bear some guilt here) on their own home turf if they're known as rats.

An interesting point here is that Larry and Jana had a buyer lined up (my nonkliting friend Pete) and was going to meet with him today. It was last night, after they had made this appointment with Pete, that Jana called me. They made a conscious choice to re-unite gear with rightful owner and not make money.

After tussling with all that, I called Sargeant Dougherty this morning and told his voice mail what happend and pointed out that these guys could probably tell them who the latest gang of car thieves are. Dougherty didn't call me back to get details.

What I've been thinking of doing is adding my documentation to my case file complete with the email in which I spill the beans so that they can prove that Larry had knowledge of a stolen kite early on and still tried to sell it.

And I'm all for a big party on the beach \:D/
Woohoo.

[alison]

Here's what I've learned

1st. write down the serial numbers on all your gear immediately.

2nd. Put your name on your gear in permanent marker. I kinda like the the idea of hiding it some things like the bladder of the kite but maybe someplace obvious as well.

3rd. NEVER leave your gear in your car even if it's a beat up piece of junk and you've hidden it well and you probably already know this but it bears repeating. Gabe has a good isea about bolting down a steel mesh gear bag you can buy at REI.

4th Don't expect the cops to help. It took days of badgering them nonstop and it wasn't until a male talked to them (right here in progressive Berkeley) that they stopped saying that they didn't care. Maybe that was just a coincidence and Yuri spoke to sargeant when I could only get lower level officers. But why couldn't I speak to a Sargeant and why would Dougherty only talk to Yuri for a day or two?

5th Tell the forum and work it. We know what do do now. Call those bastards and spook the sh*t out of them. You might want to keep it to pms but work it hard. It was the nonstop calls that did it for me.

I never let on how I found them thought that was pretty obvious but I also never mentioned the forum so, now that the paranoia has passed, I do think it's pretty safe to post about it here.

My kite will never spend another unsupervised moment in my car again. Unless bolted. That was the stupidest thing of all.

I just can't imagine any other kite manufacturer getting on the phone with the thieves (as we all thought back then) and trying to get my kite back. I don't care if you think I'm a shill for WW but I'm never buying anything else. You will, however, get a 5% discount if you buy a WW kite and mention my name. And I'll always buy the rest of my gear from Evan at Live2kite. What a great guy.

And it's really nice to know what a great tribe of kiters I belong to. You guys rock!

Oh, and if you do want to do a sting here's how. Go and buy something back. Get a look at what else they have and verify that it really is your stuff. The cops have been chasing down "stolen" items on Craiglsit for 10 years only to find that it wasn't stolen. If you call a cop and say that you've found you'r stolen stuff on Craigslist, they're just going to roll their collective eyes. BUT, if you can say that you've seen it and you have proof that it's yours (keep your reciepts and that slip of paper that comes with your kite that has the serial number on it, then call the cops immediately or flag down a beat cop and have them go get the guys.

But I have to say, after this experience, I'm not sure that I'd do that. I might just buy it all back. I'm just not sure.

That's all for now. My fingers are pooped.

[Greg]

I feel your pain, I had an EXTREMELY BAD EXPERANCE with the BERKLEY POLICE DEPT, Frankly I HATE THEM!!!! I'd never thought of killing a cop before that.. and people think Berkley is progrossive, HA!!
My advice is report everything in your case and also report your experance with the police dept to Berkleys citizen police overcite commette becouse they check into police misconduct but are not part of the police program.

My final 2cents: its your duty to report criminal activity AND reporting poor policing practices is EXTREMELY important to society as a whole, otherwize nothing will ever change for the positive .

[alison]

I called my city councilwoman last week. Yesterday she took names of unhelpful police officers. A friend of mine's city councilman fired a bad cop after a pattern of bad behaviour had been established.

City councilpeople are often forgotten about but they usually want to help. And if they don't, you can vote them out of office.

[Greg]

Good move!! It sucks to have to push people to do there job but sometimes that what it takes.
Greg

[average_male]

I think I remember reading about a law stating that if a party was remotely involved in stealing or embezzling kiteboarding equipment, it was the right and duty for all members of the kiting community to declare Marshal Law and to 'dispose' of the party in question. Did any one else hear of such a law? I think it's Penal Code Section 1407-1413

[busski]

The Berkeley police have more important things to do, like giving me a $150 ticket and taking my dog to the pound (while I was there) for leaving the dog out in front of a copy shop during weather described on the ticket as "cloudy, possible rain." Apparently leaving a dog outdoors for 15 minutes when it might rain without "adequate shelter" constitutes animal abuse in Berkeley :)

[alison]

The Berkeley Police are just plain silly.

I can understand not wanting to get burned on another Craigslist sting gone bad but they aren't even following up on the car thieves.

They just don't care about anything but easy tickets.