New York Motorcycle Community Helps Fellow Biker Track Down Stolen Bike

All hail the tight-knit biking community. New Yorker, biker bar head honcho, and restaurant owner Shmuel Avital got a nasty shock one Tuesday morning when he turned up for work and noticed that his custom-made KTM 390 Duke, which he usually parks in front of his East Village eatery, was missing.

(All images taken from The New York Daily News)

The man, who hosts a very popular Two Wheels Tuesday event every week, then reached out to the rest of the motorcycle community in New York, getting the word out that his precious two-wheeler might have been stolen.

“I posted photos on Instagram and put my phone number on it and all the motorcycle community shared it,” the biker said in an interview with The New York Daily News. Motorcycle clubs such as The Missfires, MotoFellas and NY Classic Riders immediately joined in the hunt and shared the information with the rest of their members.

After a short while, Avital “got a phone call from a truck driver in the Bronx” who “saw the bike, snapped a shot, and he sent [him] a picture.”

The longtime biker then enlisted the help of his neighbour Brian Hamilton, who works for the highway patrol, telling the officer he was going to get his motorcycle back before he took off on his main ride - a more powerful KTM Adventure.

Having spotted his stolen bike and the culprit sitting atop the vehicle, Avital made a phone call to Hamilton and revealed the location before pursuing the alleged thief. As luck would have it, there was a red light and Avital ended up pulling up next to him.

Avital then started a conversation with the joyrider, whose name was revealed to be Dequavias Lewis.

“I was asking if he was selling the bike, asking him questions about the bike,” the owner remarked.

“He was trying to tell me it’s not his, he just bought it from someone - my questions didn’t make sense and he didn’t make sense.”

That was when the police cruiser made its grand appearance, and Avital ended up having to tackle and hold down Lewis who had tried to make a getaway.

As officer Hamilton and his other law enforcing pals led Lewis away, Avital took a selfie with the culprit in the background.

By the time the next Two Wheels Tuesday rolled around, Avital had his two bikes safely home and ready to celebrate. After all, it is very rare for a stolen motorcycle to make its way back to its rightful owner.

“Between the police and Highway 1 (patrol) they really helped. Normally, it never ends that way,” the biker stated.

Lewis was eventually charged with criminal possession of stolen property, unauthorized use of a vehicle and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

But Avital hopes that the young man, who was only 20-years-old, would not be put behind bars. In fact, according to The New York Daily News, Avital understands Lewis’ attraction to fast bikes and wants to bring him into the biking community.

“He’s a kid who is admiring the wrong heroes. We should probably get him a job in motorcycle world and get him back on track,” the biker said.

And that’s the story of how the New York motorcycle community bonded together to catch a thief, and how the owner of the stolen bike was magnanimous enough to forgive the joyrider.