On 26 April at 3:54 pm, a thief enters Mirko J.’s* basement in Berlin, presumably through a neighbouring building, and steals his e-bike. The thief doesn’t know that the bike is fitted with an IT’S MY BIKE GPS tracker. On the same evening, at around 9.30pm, the tracker sends a signal further north, near the “Orankesee” swimming area, about 2km from where the theft took place. Mirko J.* only noticed the loss of his e-bike a few days later, on 29 April, and reported it using the IT’S MY BIKE app.

The e-bike was not moved for a long time. But the Bike Hunter team did not give up. In fact, after about three months, on 1 August, the long-awaited breakthrough finally came. The GPS tracker sends a precise signal from the centre of “Friedrichshain” park. The police were informed, while the bike hunters continued to track the culprit. The officers arrive at the park at around 5pm and twenty minutes later find the stolen bike at the location indicated by the GPS tracker.

To their surprise, a woman at the scene claims to have bought the bike online – without hesitation she hands it over to the officers. The bike is taken to the police station and the insurance company is informed. Thanks to the GPS tracker, the persistence of the bike hunters and the quick reaction of the police, the bike was recovered.

*Name changed by the editors

Symbol image: Adobe Stock