A valley man had two expensive dirt bikes stolen from him Sunday morning near Ann and Decatur 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.
