So when the 23-year-old student, originally from Chile, found the $850 Trek mountain bike had been stolen from outside his Salisbury St home between last Friday night and Saturday morning, he was very upset.
Rodriguez reported the crime to police on Saturday and posted it to Facebook group Stolen Bikes Christchurch and Canterbury, which was set up by cycling enthusiast Noel Andrew.
The group has been joined by about 2000 members since being created last year. And social media worked.
Just hours after Rodriguez posted about the theft, the group’s eagle-eyed members spotted the bike being sold on sales platform Facebook Marketplace.
He had about 150 Stolen Bikes Christchurch and Canterbury group members message him about this.
Rodriguez contacted police and they were able to track down where the bike was using information from the Facebook Marketplace post and recover it for him last Monday morning.
Said Rodriguez: “It was a nice big help because I’m from Latin America and that kind of thing does not happen in my country.”
Between late February and the end of March, 166 bikes with a combined value of $250,000 were stolen across Christchurch, according to police.
Andrew said Rodriguez’s bike is just one of nine he knows Stolen Bikes Christchurch and Canterbury has helped to find and return to their owners.
He said the group has been an effective tool and has been joined by some undercover police officers, who also keep an eye out for the stolen bikes posted.
Detective Sergeant Don Fisher said it is often hard for police to keep track of all stolen goods, like bikes, being sold online, so groups like this are beneficial for assisting police.
“Police have to be in a position to act on that information immediately. If we’re able to do that, we have lots of success with a lot of inquiries.”
