A motorsports dealer on Vancouver Island located his stolen motorcycle and went and got it back 鈥� with cameras rolling.

Dustin Hofer, owner of Pride Motorsports Inc., had a Honda CFR250R motorbike stolen from his Cobble Hill dealership and a day and a half later, with the help of his business partner and another man, had taken it back from a property in Harewood in Nanaimo.

Hofer said surveillance video showed that the theft happened at 6:10 a.m. Sunday.

鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot of friends whose motorcycles were stolen in this past year. There鈥檚 a theft epidemic going on here in Victoria and the lower Island,鈥� Hofer said. 鈥淪o my route was not to go to the police right away. I wanted to reach out to social media. I know the power of social media.鈥�

He offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the bike and received hundreds of tips, including from two people who claimed they鈥檇 been offered the chance to buy the motorcycle. Hofer said he set up a meeting outside a Nanaimo fast food restaurant, but the sellers didn鈥檛 show. Another tip provided a street address.

鈥淲e made a decision that we would be safe and we were going to actually go to this person鈥檚 place of residence and retrieve this motorcycle,鈥� Hofer said.

They pulled into the driveway in the 900 block of Bruce Avenue, where they spotted the bike and Hofer called the police as his business partner met and shook hands with someone on the property.

鈥淎t that point, on live video, we told them that they鈥檙e on live Facebook video and the police were on their way,鈥� Hofer said. 鈥淭he look on their face was priceless. They started moving really quickly and then they started running.鈥�

The motorcycle was loaded into the back of a pickup, which was then parked to block off the driveway until police arrived.

Hofer said the recovery operation was a little nerve-racking.

鈥淥ur goal was not to have any altercations as far as violence or anything, but it was pretty tense,鈥� he said.

According to a Nanaimo RCMP press release, police verified that the motorcycle was the one taken from the business, but were unable to determine who took the bike and how long it had been on the property, so no arrests were made and charges are unlikely.

Const. Gary O鈥橞rien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said the motorcycle owners put themselves in harm鈥檚 way by recovering their property themselves.

鈥淭his is certainly a great story but the owners should have contacted the RCMP prior to driving onto the property. This would have been the most prudent and safest means to look for their stolen bike. The bike would still have been recovered and the possibility of violence would have been minimized,鈥� he said.

The tipsters declined the cash reward, which Hofer said would be donated to Warmland House and Outreach in Duncan.

Hofer had hoped there would be some repercussions for those responsible for stealing others鈥� possessions.

鈥淚鈥檇 like these people to get some help and whether that means hitting their bottom and getting charged with theft or stolen property, then maybe that鈥檚 what needs to happen, but ultimately, we鈥檇 like these people to get some help and stop terrorizing the community and people who work hard for these things,鈥� he said.

editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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