Havertown mom uses Internet sleuthing to recover son’s bike
HAVERFORD » It was her son Aidan’s only Christmas present — a top-of-the-line, Fuji Nevada 21-gear mountain bike with disc brakes, purchased from M & M bicycle shop in Bryn Mawr. In early April he was playing with friends on the turf field behind the high school when it was stolen.
“He came home very upset,” said Aidan’s mom, Carolynn Butko. “He had left the bike unlocked with his friends’ other bikes and someone had stolen it. I was very upset. It was hundreds of dollars.”
She notified the and gave them the number.
“They said they’d contact us if anything turned up but I was persistent,” Butko said. “I’m looking for that bike everywhere I go. I called (police) a couple times a week to keep it fresh in their mind.”
She didn’t stop there. She asked friends to keep an eye out for it and posted notices on the popular Havertown Community Facebook page.
Friends told her they saw it in the neighborhood, but nothing definitive. Then last week Aidan spotted what looked like the bike on a website that sells skateboards, bikes and other used goods called offerup.com. Unlike Craigslist, the offerup site includes photos. Looking at the pictures, they were certain it was their bike by the M&M bike shop sticker and other markings.
The bike was for sale or trade for $425. The same seller had another bike for sale for which he was asking $800. From the photos, Butko also determined the police serial street, which appeared be Havertown.
At that point, Butko started performing social media searches looking for the seller’s first name, which was distinctive.
“I found a kid on Instagram with that name and we followed him, then I started calling area parents asking if they knew him.”
Using an old school directory, she found his address. She went to Google street maps and looked at the photo, it matched the ad. They called the police to report it, then drove over to the house.
“By now it’s 11 p.m. at night, but their lights were still on so I decided I’m calling, I wanted my bike,” said Butko.
“‘Your son posted pictures of a bike online,’ I told the dad,” Butko said.
“I know it’s your house and your kid stole it. I just want to let you know I’ve notified the police,” she told him by phone.
The man told Butko his son had bought the bike last week. Butko again called the police, who told her to to let them handle the issue.
“The police officer went over that night. We watched from down the street. Finally they came out with the bike, put it in the truck and we met him (police officer) at the station and he returned it.”
“It’s your neighbors, they’re robbing me and that (stinks),” Butko said. “That’s a step beyond.”
Police confirmed that the stolen bike was returned; however they were unable to comment on the case while it is under investigation.
Bike thefts are way up, according to Havertown Detective Michael Flynn. He said during the period of January to June 2017, 34 bikes have been stolen in the township, a 113 percent increase over 2016 and over a 200 percent increase over the past two years.
Flynn said bike theft is a property crime, which tends to increase during hard economic times. Police also see a link to the opioid abuse issue, people looking for something they can turn around for some quick bucks, used to score drugs.
“While some thefts are some kids stealing from other kids, a lot of these bikes end up in Philadelphia,” Flynn said. “A lot of times they are crimes of opportunity. Even though this is Havertown, lock your bikes up. Lock them up. The same with cars, lock the cars.“
“Not a lot of stolen bikes are recovered,” Flynn said. “We do recover bikes but not all come from our town.”
Flynn urges residents to record the bike serial numbers. That is the only way police can trace a bike if it stolen. That is what allowed Butko to prove the bike was hers. Flynn said when cars that are recovered, police can run registration numbers through a police data base to find the owner but there is no such system for bicycles. Flynn suggested taking a picture of the serial number, which is on the bottom of the bike, and saving a copy.
“Securing your bicycle, locking your car and home are simple but vitally important steps to reducing the chance of victimization,” Flynn said.
Police told Butko the boy with the bike, a Havertown Middle school student, told them he bought it from a high school student.
“I’d like them to have a consequence,” Butko said. “He could be charged with receiving stolen property and the other boy could get charged with theft. I just wanted it back!”