Having lived in downtown Red Deer for three years, Matthijs Bos has had six bikes stolen.
But on Halloween, he foiled the most recent attempt to steal his bike and caught the confrontation on camera.
Bos has YouTube channel mrkain134 mostly features videos of him flying remote control airplanes. In the early morning on Oct. 31, that’s what he was doing downtown when he noticed someone trying to take his bike.
“My immediate reaction was, whatever happens I don’t want this to escalate, I just want my bike back,” Bos wrote in an email. “Luckily Canadian politeness is so deeply ingrained in the culture here. If needed I was going to get physical, I need that bike, it’s my main way of transportation.”
He ran over to where he had left his bike to see another man walking his bike towards a pickup truck. In a video posted to YouTube, he confronts the man trying to take his bike. He had a camera on his head and recorded the exchange. He tells the man he would like his bike back.
The man walking with his bike towards the truck relinquishes the bike almost immediately. Bos walks his bike back, thankful that he has his primary means of transportation.
“He said sorry and let go of my bike,” Bos said. “When I was walking back I realized I should have gone to the back of his truck to get the licence plate on camera.”
Over the last three years, Bos easily recalled having his bikes stolen many times. Some he admits were old, had little value and weren’t locked. One he had given to person to fix, left on an extended holiday, and never saw the person or the bike again.
The sixth, though, was stolen when he was at the Red Deer Recreation Centre after someone cut the lock. Ever since then, he has used two locks on his bike to ensure its safety.
“I did not think to much, just that I needed to react fast,” he said. “During the ordeal I remember feeling relieved that the timing was perfect, a minute later and my bike and gloves would have been gone.”
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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