They said the woman, surnamed Hsin, spotted a picture of her bicycle, with the trade name “Jaguar,” that disappeared in front of National Taiwan Hospital in Taipei City last Friday while trawling the Internet auction site.

After setting up a rendezvous with Chen Yi-chuan, 45, in Banqiao on Wednesday with two plain-clothes police officers from Taipei First Police District, she noticed that the bike’s serial number was the same as hers. The thief was immediately arrested.

Police latter recovered 63 other bicycles in a warehouse near his home. But Chen denied that the bicycles had been stolen. The bicycles, of all colors and sizes, were later gathered by police and transferred to Taipei First Police District (02/2331-3935).

Yesterday, victims of bike thefts began making their way to the local police station to check whether their bike was among those seized. Many left empty-handed, but a “Hello Kitty” bike was quickly reclaimed.

“Chen refurbished the stolen bicycles before re-selling them for a hefty price online,” said Lin Chieh-ming, chief of Taipei First Police District. “Hsin’s NT$2,500 bike was auctioned for NT$5,000 online.”

“In the case of a first offense, the criminal code stipulates that the convicted person will have to pay a fine,” said Lu, who explained further that “for a repeat offense, or if the amount of the stolen bicycles is important, the perpetrator could receive a jail term of no more than three years.”

“The current law is too lenient with crooks,” recently said Chang Hui-chung, a bicycle re-seller on Ren Ai Rd. in Taipei City.

“The city government must make further provisions against bicycle thieves,” he said, suggesting the mayor reinstate a registration system for bicycles that was abolished 30 years ago.

“We should take the Netherland’s example,” he added, as he noted that carving serial numbers on bicycle parts is not enough to discourage thieves.

“Bicycles with registration plates would certainly help,” he went on.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email