Related Stories
Lost Key or Bike Thief: What Would You Do?
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of ABC News
Posted: December 30th, 2013
http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/bike-theft/story?id=105...
A young man armed with burglary tools worked hard to free up a chained bicycle. He hammered, he sawed and when that didn't work -- he used an industrial sized bolt cutter. While he struggled to break the chain, the commotion turned heads and prompted people who passed by to question -- did he lose his key or was he blatantly stealing a bike? With the help of our hidden cameras, ABC News' "What Would You Do?" recreated a bike theft in a neighborhood park to see what ordinary people would do if they witnessed a bike being stolen by a young teen -- who if asked would confess. When no one tried to stop our thief, Kelly kicked it up a notch, using an electric saw and putting on a pair of safety goggles. It caught the attention of Arlene Menard and her husband George Clark. "I just want to know if it's your bike?" asked Menard. When Arlene went off to find help, Quinones stepped in to clue the couple in on our experiment. In over an hour about 100 people passed by our bike thief, but only Menard and Clark stepped in to stop him. Some told us they planned to call the police later. Others said they were scared and kept moving. One young woman gave Kelly the benefit of the doubt, she said, because of his race. "I remember thinking young, white men don't usually carry burglary tools," said Bisa Washington, an African-American woman. Would parkgoers' reactions change if our thief was African-American? Or what if the thief was an attractive female?
Note: If you watch the full video at this link, you will see many people tried to stop the African-American man, while several men literally helped a sexy young woman to steal the bike!
Related Stories
Latest News
Key News Articles from Years Past
