Local shop hires former moto thief

[ducatiz]

I understand there is a world of difference between those two.  I wasn't implying that they are the same.  All I'm saying is that people absolutely should lose their right to do certain things when they abuse it. 

so here is a question...

if said ex-con wanted to start a motorcycle dealership, would you want to pass a law that says he can't run a dealership?

it just doesn't make sense to prevent him from trying.

you have the right to avoid him and his business, but to take away his right to earn a living with (what may be) the only thing he knows?  i think the bar has to be pretty high for that, and if we are talking about motorcycles versus kids or any other kind of sexual predator target, there is no comparison.

i mean, what if he was a car thief?  can he no longer work at a car shop?

what if he was a gum thief?  can he no longer chew gum?

[The Mad King Pepe']

Quoting "{Salva}" from the DCSB forum:

well...it's like having this guy


work here





I think the real issue here isn't hiring an ex-thief (which apparently is the best way to keep them from relapsing), rather that this guy would be working on the current bikes of people he stole from in the past.

[ducatiz]

I think the real issue here isn't hiring an ex-thief (which apparently is the best way to keep them from relapsing), rather that this guy would be working on the current bikes of people he stole from in the past.

seems he would know those bikes far better than any others.. 

[696DCRider]

so here is a question...

if said ex-con wanted to start a motorcycle dealership, would you want to pass a law that says he can't run a dealership?  No, because I hate laws.  What I could do though, is not support it because it's my right.

it just doesn't make sense to prevent him from trying.

you have the right to avoid him and his business, but to take away his right to earn a living with (what may be) the only thing he knows?  i think the bar has to be pretty high for that, and if we are talking about motorcycles versus kids or any other kind of sexual predator target, there is no comparison.  I never said I'm going to march down there and demand that he quits.  I just expressed my discontent with their decision.

i mean, what if he was a car thief?  can he no longer work at a car shop?

what if he was a gum thief?  can he no longer chew gum?  Yes.  This was exactly my point.  All gum thieves must pay for their crimes to society.

[ducatiz]

lol

[bikepilot]

Thanks for the heads-up SP.  If anything goes missing I know where I'll check first and I won't be doing any business with RnR - don't want my name, addy etc available to the scumbag.  Plenty of other places around and it isn't worth the risk imo.  Is it possible he's turned around and is truly reformed?  Sure, likely?  No.  RnR is of course perfectly free to hire him and he's apparently free to work for them.  As a general rule I think it unwise to employ people with a history of criminal activity an a manner that would make further, similar activity easier and more accessible.  Working on bikes all the time would seem to increase this guy's opportunity to steal bikes again - just seeing bikes and customers he'll know who has what, probably be able to get their address and will likely already know whether the bike has an alarm, lojack, etc.

[ManaloEA]

As a general rule I think it unwise to employ people with a history of criminal activity an a manner that would make further, similar activity easier and more accessible.  Working on bikes all the time would seem to increase this guy's opportunity to steal bikes again - just seeing bikes and customers he'll know who has what, probably be able to get their address and will likely already know whether the bike has an alarm, lojack, etc.

Kinda like a bar hiring recovering alcoholics. It would seem like the temptation to re-enter a pattern of behavior would be too great, especially given the knowledge of which bikes are the easiest targets and where they are garaged.

[Steve.In.Atlanta]

So this guy's working at a shop who's giving him a second chance. I would like to think they talked with him about it and I'm guessing he explained everything and that he's truly sorry. I'm sure they thought long and hard with the decision to hire this guy. While the bike community is small, I also that we were a bit more of a let bygones be bygones.

If the guy stole my bike i would've been pretty pissed too but I also carry insurance on my bike for theft due to living in downtown atlanta and only being able to park it on the street. So I would have received monies from the insurance company for my loss and got another bike. If I found out he worked at a shop in my area that I go to I may actually talk to him and see what he's like now. If he seemed like a decent guy, I may even tell him that mine was one of the bike and I would assume he would feel a lot of shame and offer an apology.

If bikes start getting stolen, he's going to be the first person questioned anyway and the shop should have insurance on the bikes that are there, right? I think the shop owners are trying to do by right by giving the guy a second chance. They're also putting a lot of risk on doing this so I would do what I could to support them for trying to do that.

[zooom]

lets back up a step here on this....and pt some perspective...


when did he go to jail and when did he get out? and what if any restitution has he done since getting out? pieces like these can make a world of difference in opinion as to why RnR even considered hiring this guy...

[ducatiz]

If bikes start getting stolen, he's going to be the first person questioned anyway and the shop should have insurance on the bikes that are there, right? I think the shop owners are trying to do by right by giving the guy a second chance. They're also putting a lot of risk on doing this so I would do what I could to support them for trying to do that.

this.

if anything, hiring him just makes him suspect #1 if anything goes funky.

[ducatiz]

lets back up a step here on this....and pt some perspective...


when did he go to jail and when did he get out? and what if any restitution has he done since getting out? pieces like these can make a world of difference in opinion as to why RnR even considered hiring this guy...

good questions.

[bikepilot]

From what I gather (probably 4th hand info so take it FWIW) he was locked up for about a year and got out fairly recently and currently owes about half a million in restitution.  I think he was stealing bikes as recently as early '09, but again not even close to FHE here.  Also word on DCN is that he's been joking about the bikes he stole and laughing at the folks who's bikes he nabbed (allegedly about 80 bikes in the DC-metro area). Also not FHE, just what other folks have posted, but no obvious reason that they'd have made it up.

[Statler]

If my shop hired the guy who stole my bike I'd consider it a pretty big make the beast with two backs you (which some folks in that thread certainly had happen).  His salary to partly pay his restitution to me or my insurance company for my bike isn't coming from my $ for current bike work.

I didn't pull his history in VA, but his MD record would check him off my hire list.

[ManaloEA]

If the guy stole my bike i would've been pretty pissed too but I also carry insurance on my bike for theft due to living in downtown atlanta and only being able to park it on the street. So I would have received monies from the insurance company for my loss and got another bike. If I found out he worked at a shop in my area that I go to I may actually talk to him and see what he's like now. If he seemed like a decent guy, I may even tell him that mine was one of the bike and I would assume he would feel a lot of shame and offer an apology.

True... But whose premiums go up whenever a claim is filed? The insurance company has to get someone to pay.

[twolanefun]

Well it's my understanding that the guy that hired him isn't exactly clean from his Fast Lane Cycle days, don't know that for sure just what I was told when things went belly-up. - Gene