Thief at Murphy

[Shorty]

Apparently there was a thief at Murphy this morning (sometime before noon).

A rider lost his wallet and cellphone when he wiped out, didn't realize it, and by the time he returned to the trail and got his phone (which someone had found and brought to the trailhead), some jerk had grabbed the wallet had already run up $1000+ shopping spree on his credit card.

Please post here, or PM me, if you know anything about this or saw someone pocket a wallet from the trail, act suspicious, etc. I'm not sure if the guy that lost the wallet will post up or not (if they catch the bastard, please post up with an update!!).

I'm guessing the POS thief rode through during trailwork too... :fool:

MOST of the people that we saw on the trail today were nice folks that stopped and talked...

Just a reminder to double check those pockets and zippers!! Especially after crash.

[gopherhockey]

This is real unfortunate. People give MORC a hard time for doing their best to build interesting but lasting trails.... yea, its so bad that we're out in 90 degree weather doing volunteer trail work so the haters can all go out and ride and complain....

Then we get people like this who would steal from a fellow biker AND charge on his card? Give me a break...

I have met an incredible number of great individuals in the biking community, but there are still some real losers out there. Thief's, vandals, trail poachers, constant complainers etc.. may they all get whats coming to them in their next life. :mad:

[Shorty]

...may they all get whats coming to them...

I'm hoping with the number of surveillance cameras on stores these days, and the quick action of the guy that lost the wallet, they'll get busted.

If nothing else a description of the guy(s) would be nice.

[ryno lite]

I was pretty disappointed to hear that story from the guy in the lot. I guess I hold bikers to a higher standard than most of the population because most of the bikers I meet are great. I sometimes have a hard time believing there are ******* bikers out there also. Every group has it's bad eggs and it really is bothersome! I hope the stores have surveillance and they catch this *******. What an ASS! I feel bad for the guy who it happened to. He stopped during his ride to thank us for the work we were doing and seemed like a good guy. I hope they catch the idiot and all works out for the victim of the theft.

[ger]

i beleive it, my bag blew on expert loop at lebanon, and was pretty sure i saw this dude pickinng up some stuff off the trail when i switched back by the time i realized my stuff was gone so was he ....tools keys the whole deal.

[DANW]

i beleive it, my bag blew on expert loop at lebanon, and was pretty sure i saw this dude pickinng up some stuff off the trail when i switched back by the time i realized my stuff was gone so was he ....tools keys the whole deal.

I'm fairly new at this, but I've never met anybody on a trail that wasn't decent?

[gopherhockey]

I'm fairly new at this, but I've never met anybody on a trail that wasn't decent?

Fortunately I think the vast majorty are decent if not overly willing to help out. Its the very few that seem to get noticed though. (and not just by our own kind...) I think overall we're VERY fortunate in this area.. and in the time I've been around MORC it seems as if the list of good ones grows every year.

[ryno lite]

I've met mostly great people on the trails, which is one of the reasons I like riding. That said, there are a$$holes in every group, even a good group like bikers.

[jitterjepp]

Someone ripped off my tools, a fleece jacket and a couple dirty shirts at afton two years ago and last year someone burrowed a LIM light from me and returned the one they owned that didn't work and had white athletic tape all over it.
I mean come, on I burrowed you a light so you could keep racing and whats with stealing dirty stinky shirts?

[springbok]

That's really unfortunate, I was down at Murphy on Friday evening and met some of the nicest people at the trail!

[ryno lite]

Actually everyone I saw pass us while we were doing trailwork today were very nice. Kind of makes me wonder who it was!

[3gmikey]

What a shame I must say! I Tend to think of the biking community as a much friendlier bunch of people. How many times have you been on the side of the trail and had a perfect stranger stop to see if "everything is OK" or "if you need a hand" etc... I think of the biking community in a greater light than that of the general public. We have a common goals and tend to think of life in terms of rides and miles put in. I guess this just reminds me that I still need to lock my car at the trail head. Usually I'm the kind of guy that says "if you need a (fill in the blank) there is one in my car, help yourself" but I guess I need to remember that even a small niche group of people can be spoiled by one bad apple. I hope they find out who this ******* is.

[xterrabuzz]

-Mike,
Three of us where out riding there yesterday a.m. When where you there??
F%$%'in dirt bags.

[Paul Swenson]

Having your car broken into is one thing. You can blame it on non biker criminals who are looking for easy opportunities To have this happen on the trail IMO is way worse. I always thought there was an implicit agreement among MTBers to help each other out. It seems that the sport requires a certain level of trust among those that ride because even the best cyclist get hung up, injured, and require help from others on the trail.

Anybody who pokes such a big hole in this fabric of trust should not be allowed to ride trails.

[ryno lite]

Having your car broken into is one thing. You can blame it on non biker criminals who are looking for easy opportunities To have this happen on the trail IMO is way worse. I always thought there was an implicit agreement among MTBers to help each other out. It seems that the sport requires a certain level of trust among those that ride because even the best cyclist get hung up, injured, and require help from others on the trail.

Anybody who pokes such a big hole in this fabric of trust should not be allowed to ride trails.

You are right on the mark with that statement!

[pro1200]

This was done by a dishonest person who happened to be riding a bike when the opportunity presented itself. I don't think any more or less can be made of the incident.

[berrywise]

This was done by a dishonest person who happened to be riding a bike when the opportunity presented itself. I don't think any more or less can be made of the incident.

Word to that. Same reason I wouldn't leave a purse in a pew at church. There are rotten people everywhere.

[Paul Swenson]

This was done by a dishonest person who happened to be riding a bike when the opportunity presented itself. I don't think any more or less can be made of the incident.

Dishonest is taking the cash and tossing the wallet. The fact that the criminal committed fraud by using the credit cards makes this much worse IMO.

[Pandl]

Scott, do you have a different purse for each outfit?

[berrywise]

Scott, do you have a different purse for each outfit?

It's a European carry all :)

[Paul Swenson]

It's a European carry all :)

A "Murse"?

[manual63]

We need to be cautious once again. I see a lot of accusing and anger...when we don't know the real story. It could have been a hiker too. I have seen kids out there on bikes and foot. Kids as in teens. We have no idea if another biker took the wallet. Are we even 100 percent sure the wallet was lost on the trail? If the guy dropped his phone on the trail, maybe his wallet fell somewhere else. Maybe at a stop before the trail or in the trail parking lot.

I suggest we be cautious about this and not accuse other riders or even make people fear a thief at Murphy until we have some solid details and proof such a thing even happened.

On another note, it's sad how easy you can use someone else's card these days. Gas pumps, auto card machines at most stores, and so on. When does anyone ever ask to see your ID when you use a card? I think the coop is the only place that is consistent on checking IDs.

[ryno lite]

We need to be cautious once again. I see a lot of accusing and anger...when we don't know the real story. It could have been a hiker too. I have seen kids out there on bikes and foot. Kids as in teens. We have no idea if another biker took the wallet. Are we even 100 percent sure the wallet was lost on the trail? If the guy dropped his phone on the trail, maybe his wallet fell somewhere else. Maybe at a stop before the trail or in the trail parking lot.

I suggest we be cautious about this and not accuse other riders or even make people fear a thief at Murphy until we have some solid details and proof such a thing even happened.

On another note, it's sad how easy you can use someone else's card these days. Gas pumps, auto card machines at most stores, and so on. When does anyone ever ask to see your ID when you use a card? I think the coop is the only place that is consistent on checking IDs.

There were no hikers out there. We don't know for sure, but it really sounded like he lost it back on the trail. We're not ripping any particular biker, but I was out there Sunday and unless it fell out between the lot and trailhead, which it probably didn't, it was a bike rider.

[Pandl]

Shad, I agree on how easy it is to use a card not yours. My wife has used my debit card when I haven't been around, and signs my name. She doesn't really look like a Paul. But, names are hard to determine male/female sometimes. She has also used my Kohl's card without me, and didn't get asked any questions. Doesn't seem right.

[gopherhockey]

We need to be cautious once again. I see a lot of accusing and anger...

I don't know, I think everyone realizes that the situation stinks regardless of where the wallet was lost and who took it. If it was a biker, shame on them for being one untrustworthy individual among many good ones - I think we've all mentioned there are more good than bad. Its pretty clear that it was not a break into a vehicle kind of thing, so people don't need to be in fear of thiefs (other than we always need to watch valuables because all trails have had break-ins at one time or another and always will)

It was bad luck that a bad person was there at a bad time and really stinks that they were able to charge up stuff...

People need to vent. this is a good place to do it. Those reading posts should realize that and not get too bent one way or the other... :p

Maybe the mountain lion was involved. Maybe Murpy needs a mascott too so there is something watching over the trail. (apparently the mountain lion isn't doing the job) ;)

[berrywise]

Shad, I agree on how easy it is to use a card not yours. My wife has used my debit card when I haven't been around, and signs my name. She doesn't really look like a Paul. But, names are hard to determine male/female sometimes. She has also used my Kohl's card without me, and didn't get asked any questions. Doesn't seem right.

Instead of signing the back of my card I print "please ask for ID" instead. Sometimes the person working doesn't even look for the signature but if they do they usually see that and ask for my id.

[Nita]

Instead of signing the back of my card I print "please ask for ID" instead. Sometimes the person working doesn't even look for the signature but if they do they usually see that and ask for my id.


That wasn't a 'mountainbiker' but an opportunist thief. My cards are all unsigned with a big ASK FOR ID across the signature line in black sharpie. The only place that refused to use the card even with my driver's license was the Post Office...go figure. They said it was policy. I've done this for years and probably 99% of the time I'm asked for my i.d., except for some reason in restaurants and food stores. I believe we need a Murphy gnome and a curse on all thieves.

[DanB]

I must be a shady character because I get asked for my ID all the time lately. In fact I bought a wallet with a window on the outside so I didn't have to keep taking it out. Maybe I should shave more often. :banghead:

In all walks of life there are bad people. Police, priests, business people, etc and yes even Mountain Bikers. My theory on bad things happening is that they are going to happen and yes it sucks but I refuse to let it change the way I look at everyone or everything. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt until they prove me wrong and then I am done with them. I'd rather spend my time looking at life through rose colored glasses as looking at it through squinted eyes begins to hurt after a while. Hopefully this doesn't make people look at the others in the parking lot with a different POV as one of the greatest things about MB'ing is that as a whole they are really great people. Bad apples fall off every tree unfortunately. Just my .02 cents. :)

Big group hug??? :D

[Seabass1]

It doesn't matter that I had "See ID" on my cards when they used them, because they had my ID too. I'm about 6'6" so it must've been a tall dude who took it! Anyway, don't get too bummed out about it. There's ****ty people everywhere you go, it just sucks to have something bad happen to you when you're out doing the thing you love most in life. Oh well...let's get back out there and ride (and make damned sure that our wallets and purses and whatever are accounted for at all times!
Thanks for the kind words guys, it feels good to know people care.
Patrick (the guy who's wallet got taken for a joy ride)

[Pandl]

My dad has the ask for id on the back of his cards. Never heard that not being accepted. My debit card's signature is pretty much warn off. Lots of times, they want to hold the id in their hand, and ask, could you take that out? My wife has one of them, and it is so hard to get her id out of the little window.

**hugz**

I agree with your viewpoint Dan.

Oh, and I keep forgetting to say, Sorry to hear about your experience Patrick.

[DanB]

My condolences do go out to you Patrick. After I read my post I realized it may sound like I didn't have any sympathy for you and that is not the case at all, your situation sucks and I was sorry to read about it. I just hope we all keep in mind exactly what you said "There's ****ty people everywhere" and it doesn't make mountain bikers any worse that we have one in our midst.

[3gmikey]

I wasn't there yesterday, although I do love to ride Murphy. I was just commenting on the unfortunate occurrence at Murphry. Although I
do agree with Ryan.

[biking_stickman]

Apparently there was a thief at Murphy this morning (sometime before noon).

A rider lost his wallet and cellphone when he wiped out, didn't realize it, and by the time he returned to the trail and got his phone (which someone had found and brought to the trailhead), some jerk had grabbed the wallet had already run up $1000+ shopping spree on his credit card.

Please post here, or PM me, if you know anything about this or saw someone pocket a wallet from the trail, act suspicious, etc. I'm not sure if the guy that lost the wallet will post up or not (if they catch the bastard, please post up with an update!!).

I'm guessing the POS thief rode through during trailwork too... :fool:

MOST of the people that we saw on the trail today were nice folks that stopped and talked...

Just a reminder to double check those pockets and zippers!! Especially after crash.

Maybe it was the mountain lion.

[Heuy]

Mountain lions and thieves, hmm, if they find this guy we could use one problem to cure the other.

Sentence him to community service, make him tag off of the back of every group ride as mountain lion bait.

Where's that thread about bacon greased shorts:crazy:;)

[chervianne]

Sorry to hear about this incident. I go mountain biking to escape the BS of incidents like this.

Unfortunately, validating signatures on credit cards is becoming less and less common and possible. A friend of ours had her credit card stolen and the thief just used it at a gas station pump offering to pay for other people's gas if they gave the thief cash. The gas station clerk witnessed it and found it odd but didn't ask any questions. That means that other people were either unknowingly or uncaringly contributing to the credit card fraud. :banghead:

What's worse... the police, credit card issuers, and the credit card networks won't go after the thief, even with the camera evidence, because the effort is greater than the reward. In the meantime, the victim has the hassle and frustration of reconstructing their identities and personal belongings and being reimbursed for the charges. Sorry this happened!