Woman reclaims stolen bike from Craigslist seller

A Vancouver woman says she decided to take justice into her own hands after she allegedly spotted her stolen bike for sale online.   

Kayla Smith thought she was never going to get her bike back after it went missing, but then the next day it popped up for sale on Craigslist.

So she contacted the seller and arranged to meet him at a McDonald's restaurant. Once he arrived she quickly spotted some stickers and special brakes on the bike that she says confirmed it was hers.

"Holy crap this is my bike," Smith told CBC News. "Like what do I do? And then I was just, like, play dumb."

The seller told her he'd bought it from his roommate.  

"And then I was like, hum, no you didn't. You stole it from me last night, you liar," she said she thought to herself.

So she asked if she could take it for a test ride around the parking lot, "and then I just got on it... and rode away," she said.

When CBC News called the seller's phone number listed in the original Craigslist post, the person denied the allegations.

Vancouver police Const. Brian Montague cautions against confronting alleged thieves.

"This can be really dangerous. You don't know who you're dealing with," he said.

"We would obviously suggest if you see your stolen property or something you believe to be your stolen property for sale online, we can arrange with the victim to set up a meeting to purchase this, just like the victim did in this case."

Smith did file a report with Vancouver police when the bike was stolen, but Montague says police are now unable to catch the person responsible for stealing the bike.