Moral Dilemma: I accidentally bought a stolen bike. Original owner wants it back. What to do?

[emek]

I had no idea I was buying from a thief at the time I bought it. Shortly after buying, I got tired of the bike so I posted a "for sale" ad on craigslist. The original owner of the bike saw his bike in my ad and he was furious. He contacts me, accusing me of being a thief and threatening to call the police unless I surrender the bike to him immediately. I explain that I bought the bike and that it's mine now. He doesn't care or doesn't believe me. He demands that I bring him the bike for free, otherwise he'll call the cops and have me arrested for petty theft and/or possession of stolen property.

He still has the original receipt for the bike, and the serial number on his receipt matches the number on the bike frame so I know he's the true original owner.

Although I disagree with his hostile attitude, I agree that the bike is really his because when I bought the bike from the thief, that was a fraudulent transaction and true transfer of ownership did not take place.

The true owner of the bike shouldn't have to pay for it twice. Should I give him the bike for free and accept the financial loss? Or should I drag the cops and the law into this? Morally speaking, what is the right thing to do here? Who gets to keep the bike?

The thief who sold me the bike is long gone, he's history, not part of the equation at all.

[sheridan93]

If this went down the way you assume, you are both victims. He in the theft of the bike and you in the sale of a stolen bike to you for which you did not receive clear title. If this is the case, I would propose to the owner that you are both victims and offer to sell him the bike back for half what you paid. This way both of you suffer less damage than one or the other would suffer if the matter went to the law. I suspect you will lose in a legal argument, so you may wish to identify another scenario that could have occurred:

Maybe this guy works this scam by selling his bike to someone else, maybe an accomplice, who sells it to you without a receipt etc. Then the guy contacts you when the bike shows up online, or he "happens" to see the bike when you have it outside at your home or where you work, and then demands the return of his "stolen" bike. A little far fetched, because he wouldn't know ahead of time you would be selling it, and his accomplice who sells you the bike would have to have learned your name and where you work or live. But certainly not implausible. So perhaps you remind him that you would have a lot of questions and would be looking to subpoena Craig's list for the IP of the guy that sold it to you, and for the IP of the owner just to see if perhaps they had exchanged messages in the past, etc. In other words, you paint a picture of all the things he'll have to go through to establish fill ownership of the bike. None of that is likely to be required of him though, if he goes to the cops they probably just ask you for a receipt and if you don't have one you are probably out the bike. And you would never want to manufacture a receipt after the fact because that would be illegal and fraudulent. Right?

[ezri]

How did you get a license plate and registration and insurance for the bike if you didn't have a title to the bike? If you have a legal title the bike is yours.... if the original owner still has the title in his name the bike is legally his. Never buy a car, truck or motorcycle without a title. You are both legally and morally wrong.

[charlot22]

How did you get a license plate and registration and insurance for the bike if you didn't have a title to the bike? If you have a legal title the bike is yours.... if the original owner still has the title in his name the bike is legally his. Never buy a car, truck or motorcycle without a title. You are both legally and morally wrong.

Go to the police and ask them what to do. But my instinct tells me you may lose money on this one, they may insist you give it back. The way they will see it is this: You shouldn't have bought a stolen bike and should have done your homework before paying for it.

[orson19]

Okay, so you don't like his attitude, for all he knows you're the thief. I would probably cop tude too.

Give it back & file a police report regarding the actual thief. Or don't & go through the hastle of cops & courts & a fine.

PS: buyer beware man

[gwynethpaltrow8]

even if he has the original receipt it does not necessarily mean the bike was stolen. he also could have sold it or it could be some other scam. better call the cops just to be sure.

[adare]

Do you know there is karma for that? I would give the bike to him back. And next time never again buy anything from the street.

[gwynethpaltrow8]

Give it back??

[gillian59]

I would return the bike to it's rightful owner and demand a receipt in the future for anything bought from unknown people. You might also ask to see an ID and get contact info.
I just went through something similar. I bought a Bart (bay area rapid transit) ticket from some unknown person and paid half the tickets value. It worked that day, but the next day it didn't so I took the ticket to the Bart agent. When he ran the ticket though his machine, it said the ticket was bought with a stolen credit card and now has no value. Lesson learned.

[artzai]

Do you have a record of who you bought it from? If so then give that information to the police and the bike's owner. Then you're in the clear and the cops can likely get the real thief. As for the bike, you know it's his, give it back. And I have never bought anything on Craigslist, so do they have a refund policy of some sort where you can be reimbursed for the fact that you inadvertantly bought stolen property?

EDIT: I was assuming you meant a bicycle, lol. Maybe that is what you meant, but if you're actually talking about a motorcyle as the other poster points out, then apparently your situation is more hairy than originally thought.