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Imagine placing your bike in a bicycle parking rack and using your own cable lock to protect it from being stolen.

What if someone came and added another cable lock that you don't own the key to or you don't have the password combination for? If you were to forcefully remove it yourself, you could be mistaken for a thief and, if you threw away the proof that you own the bike, I can't figure out a way out of this, unless there are surveillance cameras around.

Same story with a yard door or gate (like this one). If someone added another lock, you could have a hard time getting in/out your own property.

Are there any laws against such "pranks"?

Asking for two reasons:

  1. Out of curiosity
  2. In case I'm ever in such a situation, I'd like to know how respond in a legaly acceptable manner
Zizouz212
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Adelin
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2 Answers2

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First off, I wouldn't assume that this is always a prank. This is a rather infamous tactic used by bike thieves. These thieves add a second lock to "discourage" the owner from taking their bicycle, wait a few days, and then remove both locks, thus stealing your bike. Don't wait, get your bike out right away.

As long as this is your own bike, you don't have much to worry about. It would generally be helpful to call the police, so that they might make a note of it. They might not be able to help you cut the lock, but they will make a note of the incident. It might also be a good idea to register your bike.

Getting into the law part...

If you were to ever be charged with a property-related offence (which I doubt would happen), you probably wouldn't be able to be found guilty. In Canada, the relevant section would be ยง35 of the Criminal Code.

To summarize that, it basically means that you can't be guilty of an offence if you believe that another person is about to render your bike inoperative (through addition of the second lock), and that your act that constituted the offence would be preventing or stopping that. Don't forget, the bike has to be yours as well.

Zizouz212
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I would suspect it is similar to booting a car which is generally illegal unless it's a cop that did it.

http://m.seattlepi.com/local/article/Company-ordered-to-stop-using-wheel-clamp-to-1164758.php

Presumably in the case of the boot you would call the non emergency police line and they would come do "something". But in the case of a bike you would need to prove you own it. I would recommend registering your bike.

https://www.nationalbikeregistry.com/register.html

I couldn't find anything about property in general being detained by another person.

tsuckow
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