“fight some crime” - the saga that is finding a stolen bike

It was mid day when I got home from school on a busy Friday only to realize that my bike was not in its usual spot outside of my house. Being so close to SHS I walk to school. Asking the guys if they have seen my bike, I was left with the typical “I thought it was with you all day” and “nope, why is it gone?” It was in that moment that I realized that my bike, my AmeriCorps bike was stolen. I was oddly okay on the emotional, “something is missing that I use every day that I rely on,” scale. I blame that on Sitka, I am so happy here that the things that I 100% know I would have had a total break down about in the past seem minuscule here and I am oddly zen about a lot of things that I never have been. Only one of the many reason that I want to stay in Sitka. But back to the bike……I went to bed Friday night with the promise from Colin that we could go out looking for the bike in the morning, bright and early. Coffee was an added necessity and bonus. Saturday morning came faster than I hoped since sleep was something I truly valued. Getting up I made moves to the kitchen to make the Christmas coffee we kept saying we were going to try but never did. After coffee was made, I decided to first ask if we could walk to the place up the street where someone wrote on Sitka Chatters that a bike was inhabiting the bushes in the fork in the road. Our quick walk had us clutching the coffee we made, because we were both cold, one of us seemingly more so than the other as I was not admitting my toes and hands were freezing. With no such luck we returned to the car to drive around to places that I can't really walk to. God bless the Prius. This ended up being all of downtown and shady Catalian street. After that we drove down HPR to check the Sea Mart lot. For a Saturday it was a busy day at Sea Mart with cars filling the lot. After a quick go around of the lot we parked because Colin “just had to get energy drinks.” Some time later we emerged from the depths of Sea Mart with nothing... forgetting wallets is a rough time. But nevertheless we did get to see 2 bald eagles in the trees, so that was a plus. Pulling out of the lot I can’t even remember what we were talking about in the car when as we were driving I looked out the window and practically shouted at poor Colin “I think that is my bike!” And then we “casually” followed the man riding my bike. Then Colin pulled in to a lot and I literally jumped out of the car, ran across the street to look as if I was walking on the sidewalk. I needed to get a better look at the bike and the slow car would have given the pursuit we were on away. The man rode past me and I looked for the tell tale sign that it was my bike. I have never been so thankful for putting/leaving hair ties around my bike seat. After the man passed me I looked up the street to see that Colin doubled back up HPR. I jumped in his car and I called the police. Telling the dispatcher “Hi, I would like to report a stolen bike ….but I see it, there is a man riding it down HPR, it is definitely my bike….. I just watched him ride past me” Then continuing to give a description of the man riding my bike and having Colin follow my bike at slow as a snail pace we were not letting the bike get away. We then ended up with the Sitka police dispatcher telling us to stay put, in the car, and not approach the man. The man ended up picking up the fact that Sitka’s new crime fighting duo were following him. Tailing him into the Lakeside parking lot. We watched him put the bike down and go into Lakeside. I so desperately wanted to go up to the bike to know 100% that it was mine, but I was very faithful that it was from seeing it go past me at least 5 times at this point in the pursuit from the Prius. We decided to park where we could see the bike and the man if he came out of Lakeside to get the bike again. Probably 10 minutes when by as we waited for the police to come. As if God knew what was up, as soon as the man left lakeside, the police showed up and pulled the guy aside to talk to him. Colin kept telling me to get out to tell the officer that it was him but if I was anything in that moment I was cautious but I was not admitting that I was scared. After 4 years of criminal justice classes and knowing how quickly situations escalate I did not want to make the situation worse. It came to this moment where my description of the man who stole my bike was so on point and accurate and the police didn’t even need to guess who this guy was. Professor Seip would be proud of me. After waiting outside the cars for the officer to talk to me, he finally came over to us. I gave him the keys to the lock on my bike to corroborate that it was in fact my bike. He took the keys and asked me what else the bike had that I knew. God bless the hair ties again. Another 5-10 minutes went by and Colin casually averted from our conversation and said “they are putting him in handcuffs" and "don't let the guy see your face just in case he tries to steal the bike again" I didn’t know if he was joking go not. But low and behold the cops had him in cuffs. The first officer put the bike in front of the dash cam of his car and unlocked the lock on my bike with my keys to use for the report. Then he brought the bike back to where Colin and I were standing in the middle of the Lakeside parking lot…. where the officer said to us “look at you guys cracking the case” and I have never felt better. I wanted to laugh but instead we took the bike and put it in Colin’s car to take home. Needless to say, I’m glad we took the walk in the cold, glad we took the route we did, glad he forgot his wallet and most of all glad that I had someone who was there to experience the craziness of life with me. What did we learn from today, even at home, lock your bike up, and we are now getting new house locks.