The Continuing Story of David's Velo Electrique

Anna and David arrived at Decathlon about 1PM.  They looked at the display bicycles and noticed that David’s model was not visible on display.  So, they waited patiently for a Decathlon bike department staff person to become available.  About 1:15PM, Anna’s French cell phone rang.  The call was from our French daughter, Estelle.  As the store was quite noisy, Anna had some difficulty understanding what Estelle was saying.

But – once Estelle raised her voice, and Anna covered her other ear, Anna heard Estelle say that her husband Laurent had just received a call from the French police saying they had David’s bike!  {The police called Laurent, because Laurent had purchased the bike for David as he had a connection with a friend at Decathlon. As discussed in a previous post, Laurent is a bike enthusiast and had advised David on the purchase.}  Luckily the bill of sale, which David had kept, had both names on it.  The bike also was a decathlon brand with a serial number that Decathlon was able to connect to the original sale.  At this point, only about an hour and a half had elapsed since the bike had disappeared. 

Estelle said she would text a police phone number to David and Anna and that they needed to connect with the French police so David would know where to go to reclaim the bike.

David is not very good at communicating in French on the phone because the speaker’s face is not visible. Again, fortuitously, Laurent knew this and had communicated to the police that they would need an English-speaker available.  David and Anna headed back to the apartment where they assembled the items they would need to reclaim the bike – bike equipment so David could ride it home, the bill of sale and other documents proving ownership of the bike [always save your receipts – you never know…].  The phone rang and it proved to be the French National Police, with someone who spoke some English.  Between David’s French and the officer’s English, they understood that David was to go to National Police Commissariat for the 7^th and 8^th Arrondissements of Lyon.  

The Cut Cable Lock

After initially going to the wrong location, David and Anna arrived at the imposing building housing the Commissariat at about 2:35PM.  After being admitted to the building, checking in, with David’s identification, we were told to take a seat.  After about 10-15 minutes, a policewoman emerged and lead us through a maze of passageways to a small office she shared with another officer.  She then took the bill-of-sale documents and began typing into her computer.  Another officer [English-speaking] was brought in to clarify a few points, David’s vital information was obtained – citizenship, date and place of birth, place of permanent residence, time in France, age [ouch], etc. David was asked where the bike had disappeared from, where David and Roger were at the time of disappearance, when the bike was last seen, whether David had in fact sold the bike, as the perp claimed that he had bought it at a flea market.  Had the bike been locked, [yes with a cable lock, which information produced a bit of an eye-roll from the officer] was David acquainted with the person claiming to have bought it, [no], had David observed anyone touching or near the bike while he and Roger were in the restaurant, [no], David was asked if he wanted to depose a complaint for theft [yes]. David was informed that he could ask for state aid to be recompensed for loss [losing only an inadequate lock and half-a-day is just punishment for not adequately securing the bike].  The officer finished typing the document, printed it, had David review and sign it, and gave him a copy.  With that, David was reunited with the wayward bicycle, and rode it back to the apartment after seeing Anna on to the bus.  All this before 4PM – the bike had been gone less than 4-1/2 hours!  Gotta love the efficiency of the French police [round up the usual suspects?]

The Record of the Interrogation of David

David and Bike Reunited outside Police Commissariat

More details – the bike was recovered in Oullins, just outside Lyon, with only about 8 more kilometers on it.  The perp could not have had possession for more than an hour, and a report of a stolen bike had not been filed!!