Night Chase on the Streets of New York – hunting a Stolen BMW S1000XR

If you’re a motorcycle owner and live in New York city then you unfortunately know it’s probably not a question of ‘if’ your motorcycle will get stolen, but a question of ‘when’. According to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles motorcycle theft rose a shocking 63% in the first half of 2021 alone. Within the five boroughs there were 985 motorcycle thefts from January to June in 2021 compared to 604 thefts in 2020 (https://dmv.ny.gov/press-release/press-release-07-13-2021). Vehicle thefts are on the rise and thieves are becoming increasingly daring and aggressive.

Living in NYC for 20 years and having bikes stolen three times Jason was already no stranger to motorcycle theft. After all those experiences he decided to install a hidden Monimoto GPS tracker on his newest bike in the hopes of stopping the inevitable fourth theft.

“At 11:26 pm on a very cold January night, I was at home watching TV when my Monimoto GPS tracking device informed me that my BMW S1000XR was being moved. I instantly rushed outside wearing only a t-shirt and without taking the time to put on shoes or socks, to find that the vehicle had been stolen and was already gone. I called 911. The police arrived approximately 5 minutes later and we proceeded to drive at high speed trying to follow the route taken by my stolen vehicle using the Monimoto app on my iPhone. The police were excited with the possibility of catching the thief or thieves and so we drove with flashing lights and sirens at break-neck speed (going up to 90 mph) through the night time streets of New York and then up to the Bronx. On the way we were joined by two other police cars.”

Jason’s Monimoto device acted as designed – when unauthorized movement was detected it activated the alarm and informed him then immediately began tracking and sending locations – allowing him and the police to trace the route of the thieves and the stolen bike.

“Unfortunately the bike got too much of a head start, so we never caught the thieves. However, after a while the app showed that the bike had stopped in a back street on the Bronx. We drove on to the street and found the bike was parked on the sidewalk. The cops wanted to wait, in the hope that the thieves would show themselves and that they could make an arrest. Given however that three police cars arrived on the scene with flashing lights and sirens, I assumed that the perpetrators would not be foolish enough to make an appearance. After 20 minutes or so the cops decided to give up, and I was allowed to ride my bike back to the city. (As I was still in bare feet and wearing nothing more than a t-shirt, the officers kindly gave me a ride home and back so that I could pick up my gear).”

Jason was able to recover his vehicle thanks to the swift actions of the NYPD and the locations from his Monimoto. A Monimoto properly installed with the GPS module facing sideways or upwards towards the sky will receive the strongest GPS signals, the thieves in this case also left the vehicle outside on the street further increasing the accuracy of the locations. They were able to pinpoint his motorcycle’s location across the city to a backstreet in a completely different borough.

“At any rate, in conclusion – I got my bike back. Two morals to this story for me. Firstly, if you live in New York city, lock up your bike. Over the past 20 years this is the fourth time that someone has stolen my motorcycle. On the night of the theft I hadn’t padlocked the bike as I usually do, having told my wife “It’s too cold – no one is going to steal bikes tonight” (oh well) Secondly, I will always use Monimoto. No, I am not connected in any way with the company. It’s just that I am sick of getting my bikes stolen – and it was nice to get it back this time.”

We’re glad you got your bike back as well Jason! And hope it will continue to protect your bikes in the future. Normally it’s always recommended to protect bikes using multiple layers of protection with chains, locks, immobilizers and all kinds of theft prevention to keep thieves away, and in case all of that fails to have a GPS tracker like Monimoto as a last resort to getting back your property. In Jason’s case the Monimoto was the only layer of protection he had on his bike the night it was stolen, and without it the bike definitely would have disappeared forever. Thanks to the speedy response time of the NYPD, and Monimoto’s tracking as well as the quick reaction of Jason himself, his BMW S1000XR was turned from the fourth bike being stolen to the first bike saved in his 20 years of living in New York.