Slob tries to steal bike in Fields Corner

Though it was bad, it was not the worst thing he did.

No bolt cutters, but I walked by a guy stripping the tumblers off one of those combination locks (you know, line up the numbers 1234 or whatever and the lock opens.) It took me a while to figure out what was going on, but thankfully my son stopped to look at something else nearby, giving me the chance to ponder what was going on. I walked up to the guy, asked what he was doing, and he left. Interestingly, not 2 minutes later the woman who owned the bike came up. I didn't have the presence of mind to snap a photo of the guy, but I did offer to give a statement to a cop if she wanted to. I think she just up and left, bike intact but lock ruined.

if you confronted someone doing this, they'll likely claim it's their bike. Moreover, you don't know if they'll get violent. Furthermore, you don't know if anyone else will have your back. Also, people who might theoretically want to have your back may find themselves confronted with a "he said, he said" situation.

Several years ago, while living in Portland, Oregon, I saw a very strange thing happen. I was walking back to my office with lunch in hand, and went down a street parallel to the one I usually took. Behind me, two very slow-moving men came running up. They appeared in decent shape physically, but were both clearly addled in some fashion, either psychologically or pharmacologically, given their strained but very slow running speeds.

The one in "first" in this race got himself to a vehicle, keys in hand, and threw the door open. As he jumped in, the other guy grabbed him, and dragged him back out into the street. Mind you, this was right in downtown Portland, on a street with shops, bistros, and offices.

A fight of sorts broke out as the guys kept pulling and pushing one another. At least one of them appeared to have a sandwich in a bag, though who knows if it was actually a sandwich. A few of us had stopped, and watched this very strange incident of two 30ish, relatively well-dressed guys struggling against each other in slow-motion, with completely no words being said by either of them. At about 12:30 PM on a weekday.

Should we jump in? Try to break them up? Are they on drugs? Will one of them produce a knife or gun? Will anyone have my back if I get involved? Is this a robbery? Do these two clowns know each other? What the hell is going on? Is this some kind of "Candid Camera" situation? Are we being punked?

As these questions are running through my mind, the guy with the keys manages to break free, jump in the car, close the door, and drive off. The other guy is left looking exasperated, and wanders off.

I still don't know what it is I actually witnessed. I can say that I've seen Dateline type show in which they chained a bike up in a park, then had actors take bolt cutters or other tools (a handsaw, etc.) and try to break the chain to see how passersby would react.

When a black guy was trying to "steal" the bike, angry white people grabbed the tool(s) out of his hands and demanded to know why he was in the neighborhood to begin with. When a white guy was trying to "steal" the bike, people said and did nothing. When a white woman was trying to "steal" the bike, some people actually stopped and tried to help her make off with the bike.

All of this is a very long way of saying that these situations are at least somewhat more complicated than just "Stop that guy!!"

I think it's a cell phone video of the security system playback.