UPDATE: A valley man had two expensive dirt bikes stolen from him Sunday morning near Ann Road and Decatur Boulevard and it was all caught on camera.
Just days after our original story aired, the thieves tried to sell the stolen bikes. Then, a good Samaritan set up a sting operation to get them back.
Mike Palmieri was contacted by a young man asking if he wanted to purchase some dirt bikes. Palmieri had purchased some other things from this man in the past. The guy was trying to sell the bikes for $3,500 but Palmieri knew they were worth a lot more.
"After I got off the phone with him, I said you know what, something's not right with this."
He did some research and realized the bikes were stolen. He called the owner of the dirt bikes, Kevin Harlow, and told him he had some good news.
"I called the guy immediately, I called the number and I told him hey how you doing, my name's Mike and I believe I found your bikes!" said Palmieri.
"He goes, Kevin, I think I'm going to make your day. I think I got your bikes," said Harlow. "He was like where are you at? How fast can you be here? I said 30 minutes from anywhere in town."
Harlow drove to the good Samaritan's home. Palmieri arranged for the thieves to be there too. Once everyone was there, Palmieri made the men wheel the bikes into his shed. He then singled to the bike owner to walk over. That's when the thieves realized they were caught. They exchanged some choice words and the thieves took off.
Harlow has his bikes back but no arrests have been made yet.
ORIGINAL STORY
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- A valley man's dirt bikes were stolen out of the back of his pickup truck early Sunday morning near Ann and Decatur. It was all caught on camera.
Kevin Harlow says his stolen dirt bikes were more than just bikes.
"These bikes were like kind of the main thing that me and my brother did together," said Harlow.
After seven months of them sitting, unused, in Harlow's garage, he and his brother were finally getting the chance to dust off the cob webs.
"We were excited to actually have a day off and be able to go riding that we left them in the truck," he said.
But plans changed when Harlow woke up early Sunday morning to find them gone.
"The baby was crying and that's what woke us up, and I just happened to check the cameras and I noticed everything was open, stripped, and gone."
Surveillance video shows at least three people, possibly four men, taking their time to try and avoid Harlow's cameras and break the bikes loose.
"These guys were peeking around, peeking around, and finally they both drive around the side," he said. "At that point, we think there's two other accomplices outside of the line of the cameras that they can't see."
Nearly 30 minutes later, the thieves broke the bikes free and took off.
"They must have left in a hurry," said Harlow. "Obviously they didn't know what they were doing, they left their tools behind, fingerprints everywhere."
But Harlow says, according to his neighbors who were awake at that time, the thieves didn't go far right away.
"They were literally here for an hour or more in this neighborhood," Harlow said.
"Just driving around?" asked the reporter.
"Driving around and they did not get caught. Unbelievable," he said.
Harlow hopes these young men will choose to correct their bad decision.
"They need to return what doesn't belong to them and they need to be productive members of society."
The bikes are valued at a combined $15,000. Anyone with information should contact police.
