Would you stop a thief stealing your bike with an angle grinder?

Here is a video of a lovely young gentleman (can't swear on this forum) stealing a £1000 Brompton bike in broad daylight in UK. Passersby try and stop him but he's got an angle grinder....he gets away...with the bike....

Just wondering if advanced grapplers would chance tackling someone with such a weapon? What if it was your one thousand pound bike?

There are plenty of opportunities to grab him when he's on the bike.

Me personally, if it was my bike, I would probably have gone for the knockout punch (I'm not a good grappler) when he gets off and is no longer in possession of the weapon briefly. But you don't know if the other gang members have knifes or even guns these days...the problem is it's a very dangerous weapon!

 

If it was my bike I might have got in a fight over it. If it's someone else's I might freeze.

 

I wouldn't be using a thousand pound bike, if you have the money for that, it's not going to be an amount of money worth risking your life for.

Or add it to your house insurance?

 

Come on, that's ridiculous.

Who spends £1000 on a bike but doesn't bother with a few quid a month to insure it?

Is the risk of serious disfigurement and injury worth £1000? Would you be happy to lose some fingers, or your nose, or an eye for a grand?

 

Apparently it's really pain to get them to pay out. I imagine it's a lot easier with footage though.

 

Though I do remember a few years ago reading about a woman with her 2 young kids on the tube getting mugged for her phone, and the insurance company said she should have resisted. Pretty sure they paid out after she shamed them in the press.

In any case, I would want more than a grand before I had a fight with someone holding an angle grinder.

 

You'd be surprised how much a decent bike costs these days. Bromptons are known for reliability and durability and it's a commuter folding bike. It's a shame really this is happening in UK streets. In USA, he would've been shot a few times in some states. If you ever owned an expensive bike you'd know how it feels when it gets stolen.

Kudos to the two people who try and stop him by holding onto bike - very brave. I probably would have joined them but no way I'd get into a fight with someone with that weapon for someone else's bike. Angle grinder would get through flesh far easier than a hot knife goes through butter....

 

Easier then going to ITU though......

Buy a cheap bike, get it nicked, no problem.

 

(I'm not an advanced grappler)
If I'm thinking rationally, not a chance, even if it was uninsured. Could get lucky, land a knockout punch or disarm and control, but the risk far outweighs the reward.
In the moment though, who knows, instinct might be "Oi, that's mine!" and give it a go, but I hope not.

 

Where is the line in the sand?

It's your hard-earned property what right do these feral bottom dwellers have to steal it?

Just saying

 

And that's exactly why people die over unimportant amounts of money....

I'm not John wick, and if I was, his life is pretty poor, no dog or anything... I'm not gonna risk being able to look after my partner and offspring in the future to indulge the remnants of my territorial
chimp brain now.

 

Depends if it's my bike or someone else's. If it's mine I'd probably put up a fight but that's up here in Edinburgh where knife crime is a lot less prevalent so I'm not as at risk. That said if someone brandished an angle grinder I might consider otherwise.

 

I understand the impulse, but I also understand it's really not worth the risk.

To misquote something said about Thatcher....
They only have to be lucky once, you have to be lucky every time....

That's not goods odds to play for physical goods that are easily replaceable.

 

Thatcher stole things legally, she's not the best example.

 

It's what the IRA said to her when they tried to kill her....

Any better?

 

Nearest I've come to physical violence in years was over someone jumping in front on me in a supermarket queue. Obviously not something worth getting into a fight over. I didn't plan it to get that bad of course but the other party got a tad angry when I pointed out his queue jumping!

So while I can "armchair quarterback" a situation and soberly rationalise that I wouldn't jump in when I see someone committing a crime (if it means I'd be putting myself at unnecessary risk) I'd be lying if I didn't think, in the heat of the moment, my hatred of criminals and righteous indignation might make me act anyway.

 

Educational standards these days are shocking lol

 

Lol,

What's worse is that I saw this recently.....

#motivational?

 

Oddly, no, not at all.