Stromer St2 Stolen and recovered...30 mins.

[John N]

It was Tuesday after an early shoot from the city. I came home for a quick lunch. I locked up my ebike at our building’s courtyard. After 30 minutes (2:29pm)I get a notification thru text and email saying my bike is being stolen. I hurried downstairs from my 4th floor apartment. And I saw that the 3 bars that I locked it to was broken. I opened the Stromer app saw that it was one block away and moving. I called 911 while literally running after the fucker on my slippers on a cold fall day. 2 minutes after calling cops, a couple units on plainclothes showed up at the a deli where the gps was pinging(a couple blocks over).

Caught the guy red-handed trying to dismantle but having having a hard time since I basically changed (almost)all the screws with propietary ones. Nonetheless, he cut some of the cables & broke the console display.

Upon checking the timestamp of my video of him being arrested from the time I got the theft alert, it was 33 minutes. And 2 hours after, the district attorney called asking for the details re; the GPS tech and amount of the ebike after much explaining he mentioned that he will get charged, Felony theft. I am AMAZED and THANKFUL at how fast my neighborhood NYPD handled the whole thing.



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[17Stratton]

Sorry for your inconvenience, but such an awesome outcome to a bad situation. (I ride Stromer in NYC, glad at least one thief is off the streets). I predict Stromer will want to use your story in their marketing efforts. Maybe even repair your bike for free!

 

[John N]

Sorry for your inconvenience, but such an awesome outcome to a bad situation. (I ride Stromer in NYC, glad at least one thief is off the streets). I predict Stromer will want to use your story in their marketing efforts. Maybe even repair your bike for free!

Yup. I actually tried to reach out if they can help. Nope. I wish Propel or Greenpath would offer.

 

[17Stratton]

Probably need a local paper to pick up the story first ... You got good pictures.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

It was Tuesday after an early shoot from the city. I came home for a quick lunch. I locked up my ebike at our building’s courtyard. After 30 minutes (2:29pm)I get a notification thru text and email saying my bike is being stolen. I hurried downstairs from my 4th floor apartment. And I saw that the 3 bars that I locked it to was broken. I opened the Stromer app saw that it was one block away and moving. I called 911 while literally running after the fucker on my slippers on a cold fall day. 2 minutes after calling cops, a couple units on plainclothes showed up at the a deli where the gps was pinging(a couple blocks over).

Caught the guy red-handed trying to dismantle but having having a hard time since I basically changed (almost)all the screws with propietary ones. Nonetheless, he cut some of the cables & broke the console display.

Upon checking the timestamp of my video of him being arrested from the time I got the theft alert, it was 33 minutes. And 2 hours after, the district attorney called asking for the details re; the GPS tech and amount of the ebike after much explaining he mentioned that he will get charged, Felony theft. I am AMAZED and THANKFUL at how fast my neighborhood NYPD handled the whole thing.



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That is phenomenal!
I'll connect you with Stromer' global VP of marketing. Stromer was the first company to successfully implement GPS on a production bike back in 2014. Please send me your email using this messaging system in this forum.

 

[Handlebars]

Hey John! Good story. What was used to cut whatever got cut...the lockup post/your lock etc. ?

 

[John N]

That is phenomenal!
I'll connect you with Stromer' global VP of marketing. Stromer was the first company to successfully implement GPS on a production bike back in 2014. Please send me your email using this messaging system in this forum.

Thanks so much Ravi. Pm’ed you re; email.

 

[John N]

Hey John! Good story. What was used to cut whatever got cut...the lockup post/your lock etc. ?

It looks like he used a large bolt cutter. He first tried to cut through my bike’s Abus 6500 granit plus to no avail so he proceeded to cut the 3 bars it was locked to.

I don’t normally lock it to this area but since I thoughtit would only take me a couple minutes to have lunch.

 

[bluecat]

Nonetheless, he cut some of the cables & broke the console display.

Impressive police work!

I've no figures, but I think, only a few Stromer are stolen in Switzerland *) - and the most by error: Thiefs didn't expect the anti-theft devices and are not aware being unable to ride the stolen bike. I hope your insurance does pay for the damage.

*) Several hundreds of ST2 form the free-floating rental service are on the road - all without mechanical lock.

 

[Over50]

Sorry to hear of the damage to the OPs bike but thrilled to hear the happy end to the story. Not often we get to see the perp walk of a bike thief. And I too am surprised that a big city police department would take the call seriously and provide immediate response.

 

[John N]

Impressive police work!

I've no figures, but I think, only a few Stromer are stolen in Switzerland *) - and the most by error: Thiefs didn't expect the anti-theft devices and are not aware being unable to ride the stolen bike. I hope your insurance does pay for the damage.

*) Several hundreds of ST2 form the free-floating rental service are on the road - all without mechanical lock.

Unfortunately, I have no insurance for This kind of damage.

 

[Ebiker01]

It was Tuesday after an early shoot from the city. I came home for a quick lunch. I locked up my ebike at our building’s courtyard. After 30 minutes (2:29pm)I get a notification thru text and email saying my bike is being stolen. I hurried downstairs from my 4th floor apartment. And I saw that the 3 bars that I locked it to was broken. I opened the Stromer app saw that it was one block away and moving. I called 911 while literally running after the fucker on my slippers on a cold fall day. 2 minutes after calling cops, a couple units on plainclothes showed up at the a deli where the gps was pinging(a couple blocks over).

Caught the guy red-handed trying to dismantle but having having a hard time since I basically changed (almost)all the screws with propietary ones. Nonetheless, he cut some of the cables & broke the console display.

Upon checking the timestamp of my video of him being arrested from the time I got the theft alert, it was 33 minutes. And 2 hours after, the district attorney called asking for the details re; the GPS tech and amount of the ebike after much explaining he mentioned that he will get charged, Felony theft. I am AMAZED and THANKFUL at how fast my neighborhood NYPD handled the whole thing.



View attachment 41103View attachment 41104View attachment 41106View attachment 41107View attachment 41108View attachment 41109View attachment 41110View attachment 41111View attachment 41112View attachment 41113View attachment 41114 .

It amazing that this thief had the knowledge to take the display out and cut the cables.
If you were to be a little late ,was the signal still going to be transmitted since the cables were cut ?
Not sure how the Gps would work after that.

But thankfully that wasn’t the case.

I use besides the Granite bordo the Granite ulock Motorcycle.
It looks like the perpetrator tried for awhile to cutvthe Bordo to no availability.

Email this thread to Abus and hopefully they will send you 2 Bordo’s.
The Wheel disk alarm is very good too. And lock it to a THICK post , Tree, railguard.

Did you install Torx screws everywhere ? I thought that the St3 already comes with torx screws in most places. I and others should do that on our ebikes(have only the M5 Torx screws).

Look into homeowners/renters insurance and veloinsurance.
But best is to have the Bordo +Granite moto. And a 3rd one if leaving the ebike longer then 30min. Is Ny afterall...

 

[John N]

Was your bike is locked mode? I assume it was or you wouldn’t have received the stolen notification. The thief couldn’t ride it in lock mode. He pushed it around the block?

Thanks for posting this story. The only improvement to your locking regime would be to lock the frame to the wheel so it can’t be rolled away.

Yes it was on lock mode. He was Only able to walk away a couple of blocks. I have a suspicion that he carried it for a little bit. I usually lock it through the wheel and main tube but this time I was on a hurry and it was right on our courtyard, which was an error on my side.

 

[John N]

It amazing that this thief had the knowledge to take the display out and cut the cables.
If you were to be a little late ,was the signal still going to be transmitted since the cables were cut ?
Not sure how the Gps would work after that.

But thankfully that wasn’t the case.

I use besides the Granite bordo the Granite ulock Motorcycle.
It looks like the perpetrator tried for awhile to cutvthe Bordo to no availability.

Email this thread to Abus and hopefully they will send you 2 Bordo’s.
The Wheel disk alarm is very good too. And lock it to a THICK post , Tree, railguard.

Did you install Torx screws everywhere ? I thought that the St3 already comes with torx screws in most places. I and others should do that on our ebikes(have only the M5 Torx screws).

Look into homeowners/renters insurance and veloinsurance.
But best is to have the Bordo +Granite moto. And a 3rd one if leaving the ebike longer then 30min. Is Ny afterall...

ABUS Being the best lock company Actually offered me a complimentary Abus Granit Plus 6500 already. My suspicion is the blinking lights spooked him. I also changed the language to German on the menu just so a regular guy wouldn’t understand what’s it saying. Yep after this happened I am super careful with my other Stromer.

 

[Captain Slow]

Glad to hear you got your bike back, but lousy that it's damaged. What exactly was the thief trying to do by cutting the cables?

 

[John N]

Glad to hear you got your bike back, but lousy that it's damaged. What exactly was the thief trying to do by cutting the cables?

He probably got spooked by the blinking lights.

 

[Zagdig]

Wow! Great story! Makes all of us pause and reflect how we are currently locking up our bikes! Thanks for sharing!

 

[bluecat]

Unfortunately, I have no insurance for This kind of damage.

Sad to hear this. Hopefully, Ravi can arrange something with Tomi Viiala.

With the latest firmware (and the appropriate hardware), the horns sounds also in case of alarm. I agree, german warning text might help, but a guy who steal a Stromer is stupid from beginning. He can damage it a lot, but never ride it. Even the most parts cannot be sold - they are too specific (and your BodyFloat was secured).

So, thank again for sharing and good luck for the future!