Wesley Myers used Craigslist to sell his $8,000 Honda motorcycle and watched as the man who came to buy ended up stealing it.
The victim's mother, Barbara Myers, used Craigslist to get the bike back a few days later.
The middleman was a Baltimore County police detective who uses the Internet swap-shop to hunt for tips on everything from stolen cars to stolen tractors, finding a treasure-trove of pilfered vehicles popping up for sale in the unregulated world of cyberspace.
"People steal and post it on Craigslist," said Cpl. Steve Sunderland of the Baltimore Regional Auto Theft Team.
Sunderland began his postings back in May, and he puts up a fresh listing a few times a week under an attention-grabbing, all-caps headline: "STOLEN MOTORCYCLES. RATT is asking for your assistance in stopping theft of motorcycles in the Baltimore region. We have set up this posting to accept tips and information."
He gets flagged by people angry that he has nothing to sell, but also gets tips and complaints from victims and suspects alike, some turning on friends and rivals, others pointing out places where stolen vehicles are hidden. "I have my 2002 Honda stolen May 2. I found it on the Craigslist," one person wrote.
Others are more direct: "What kind of reward are we talking about? You know ain't nothing in this world is for free, not even information."
Another person wrote: "Thank you for what you are doing."
Wesley Myers thought the man named "Matt" who had contacted him about his motorcycle ad was on the up and up. Matt arrived at the house on Ritchie Highway, apparently alone in a large Ford Explorer, asked all the right questions about the bike - its history, mileage, previous accidents - and then asked to take it for a spin. He even had a helmet.
"He went up the street, made a right and was never seen again," Sunderland said.
Another man had been hiding in the Explorer, and he sped off. Myers got the license plate and called police. They tracked down the driver, who, according to court documents, claimed he didn't "know anything about Matt. He did not know where he went with the victim's motorcycle or why he would steal it."
The investigation appeared to stall, and Wesley Myers' mother grew restless. Every day, she checked Craigslist, hoping to spot parts from her son's motorcycle. One evening, "for the heck of it, I typed in 'stolen' " in the search query of the motorcycle sales page. Sunderland's post popped up.
