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  holycr@p, they let him out! (14 posts)

• HappyStuffing said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  You guys remember Igor, the infamous bike thief? Got a ridiculous record of 2,000+ stolen bikes? Looks like he's out of prison. boooooooo!!

  Call me extremely biased because i love bikes and most people sitting on those bikes too, but i just can't welcome this guy back into the community. Time served or not, what he did was a bit more than extreme. This guy exemplifies the phrase "there is a special place in hell for bike thieves".

  Anyways, how goes everyone?

• Svend said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  I think he's done enough time if he's changed his ways – we'll have to wait and see. I'd like to know why the police seemed to leave him alone for several years when many people knew what he was up to.

  I'll be more pissed if Michael Bryant gets off for murdering a cyclist or just gets a fine. Is it true the ghost bike in Darcy Sheppard's memory was removed?

• HappyStuffing said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  Yes, i agree with you Svend, i wouldn't be too happy if Bryant got off easy for what he did. I'm pretty sure there would be some major public outcry if he did. I can't see the cycling community letting that one down if it happened.

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  Having worked as a legal assistant and seeing the "other side", that being policemen, I have come, over time to have a different feeling about Igor than I did initially, which mirrored most peoples t thoughts of him.

  Yes, he purchased stolen bikes but i dont believe for one minute that he was seen pointing towards a bike and then paying the fellow for it.
  I believe that was an outright lie for he did, despite what people think, more or less live by the rules of the game, within reason. Those being, that he was supposed to take 2 piees of ID from anyone that brought him a bike. i have no doubt that area for him was quite grey, as it might be for most pawn shop owners. I imagine he followed the rules though by giving a list to the police every 2 weeks or so of the ID collected…..( yes, I understand some was fabricated, etc no doubt).
  At which point some bikes that showed up as stolen wold be picked up by the police and returned to their owners. The rest, he would sell or as I understand, give back to people if they said it was their bike and could prove it.

  In any event that part is irrelevant in my opinion. I do believe he bought them but i dont believe he directed thieves to steal particular bikes.

  The CBC was coming out with a story about bikes being stolen. Part of that story focused on how the police in Toronto did not go after bike thieves, didn't consider the crime important enough and in the end angered a lot of citizens.
  The CBC article was an embarrassment to the police department.
  Something had to be done to take the focus off of our police.

  Since Igor I believe was following the law, however grey, as well as possible, they were unable to arrest him.
  If you really think about it, what could they have arrested hi on?
  At least something that would stick?
  Most of those bikes were not traceble to the owners I understood. I believe only 3% or some other ridiculously low number of people were able to prove to the police a bike in Igors collection was theirs.

  Where did the rest of the bikes end up?
  The police auction.
  They sell the bikes.
  The money made from such auctions no longer goes towards the economy as it once did I understand but now is used to pay for funerals they might attend, if they have to go out of town on police business I was told this would cover their costs.

  In any event, regardless of what one thinks of Igor, I believe he was set up by the cops on that particular arrest and for that reason alone I dont support what they did. I certainly dont have any proof of it but just a very strong gut feeling that that was what took place.
  My understanding from having spoken to many people, was that he was never seen pointing towards bikes before but suddenly, THAT DAY he did? Just before the magazine article came out?
  No I dont believe it.
  And if not, legally, it changes everything about the story all together!

• Frank Lecky said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  SD-B59, where are you getting this information?

  Is everything said about Kenk in the cycling community a fabrication?

  He wasn't buying stolen bikes from crackheads for a pipeful or two?

  He didn't have (how many?) garages full of bikes?

  He didn't attack people with steel pipes?

  The details have fogged out over time but really, everything said in the past was just a police setup?

  Are you his mother?

• Joe T. said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  Please remember we're trying to keep things respectful and constructive on BikingToronto.

  Everyone has a right to their own viewpoint. Please don't make things personal.

  Our code of conduct for the site:
  http://bikingtoronto.com/code-of-conduct/

  Disagreeements are great, and provide excellent opportunities to learn something new. Let's not let them get personal though. If we do, BikingToronto becomes just like every other cycling site filled with personal beefs, vendettas and trolls.

  No worries though. Let's all remember that the online space is one where it's easy to misconstrue intentions due to body language and voice tones being absent.

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  LOL am I his mother? No, never met the man.
  Yes, he did trade crack I understand for the bikes.
  Im in no way denying that.
  As for cracking someone over the head with a steel pipe, I cant say, I wasn't there but as a legal assistant my experience has been in such a situation with emotions inflamed, even IF he DIDN'T raise a steel pipe to someones head, all they have to say is that he did and that person will be believed over him.
  In fact, they cold almost say whatever they wanted and they wold be believe over him.
  Again, I am not arguing that point for he likely did hit someone with a steel pipe.

  But lets digress for a moment.
  A good friend of mine was riding his bike down Sherbourne one afternoon 2 yeas ago and for some reason a car full of idiots, almost pushed him off the side of the road and their mirror hit his body and he reacted by angrily, hitting the hood of their car when he went by and told them to smarten up and drive properly. Some goon got out of the car, walked up to him and said, you just bought yourself some trouble…….phoned the police and my friend was charged with assault.
  Why?
  He had been charged with smoking pot when he was 25.
  He had a record.
  So it didn't matter that these guys almost drove im off of the road and then threatened him, he was the one it was easier to charge.
  Just as it would be very easy to charge Kenk and anyone could have said whatever they wanted and they would be believed over him.
  Again, I was not arguing that point anyhow.

  My point ONLY was that he was NEVER seen pointing towards bikes to suggest he wanted that one stolen.
  Bikes were just brought to him in the store.
  That on its own, is legal…..that is how pawn shops work.
  His mistake most likely, and again I don't know him so I don't have the inner workings of his store but will assume on some bikes he DID take down ID but on many he didn't.
  I will guess that some of the smaller pawn shops do the same.
  S there isnt really anything illegal in what he was doing.
  It was a grey area.

  Pointing to a bike is a whole different ball game and i am firmly convinced he did not do what he was accused of but by saying that he did, it gave the police some reason to charge him and take the heat of of themselves immediately.

  I wold bet my life he never did what he was accused of and again, by this, I only mean that I dont believe he pointed at the bike he wanted stolen.
  Without that, its highly unlikely the police would have been able to make such an arrest.

  But they needed to.
  And they knew they had to lie to do such but please don't suggest to me that the police don't lie?
  LOL
  But without doing so, they would not have had an arrest and the article by CBC would have come out and the police department would have been very embarrassed.
  They avoied that by arresting Kenk.

  They also knew that the general public (you) are apathetic and hate this man so they knew that the general public, again, ( you and others ) would not care if they had to lie to arrest him.

  Unfortunately the general public does not care if the police lie if it means catching "their man" until it is someone innocent they know and love and suddenly they understand why the police should be held as accountable as anyone else and WHY in cases where police do lie, it is important that the "criminal" get off, even if he is guilty as sin for it will make the next cop think about lying the next time.

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  You know, people love to have a villain to blame. Has bike crime been reduced since his arrest?
  My understanding is that it has not.
  People used to ask WHY don't the police arrest this man?

  Well my guess would be because he really wasn't doing anything illegal, openly.
  I am guessing he was taking ID on some bikes and the ones he wasn't?
  Well, I bet the police suspected that but couldn't prove it and the manpower and money cost to prove it wasn't worth it for them.
  Had this article NEVER seen the light of day I suspect Kenk would still be doing the same as before but he made one huge error that many of his ilk make.
  His ego got the best of him and i understand when interviewed for the article, he actually spoke to them and although they all said he was a very nice and charming man, his ego did shine through.
  I suspect the reporters knew how to make that happen and he fell for it.
  At which point, again, the police had to shut him down.

  I also suspect that before they did arrest him it was to their benefit to know where most bikes were ending up….Its akin to letting certain drug dealiers or prostitutes ply their trade openly.
  You help me I will help you and my guess is its possible he helped the police with a bit of information here and there.
  In return, they turned a blind eye.
  Again, I do not know this for a fact but this is how it often works……..

  Before they knew where to go. The stolen bikes were in the open.
  Now they aren't.
  Its the same as letting drug spots remain open and on the street until too many neighbors complain.
  The police can gather a lot of information watching such spots.
  Once its shut down, and people scatter underground, they don't know where to go to get that information and they have to start all over again cultivating someone in the "scene" who can lead them here and there when needed.

• Frank Lecky said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  My bad, Joe.

  I will refrain from getting involved in this discussion because it would be virtually impossible for me not to get bent out of shape over it.

  So defend him 'til you're blue in the face, SD-B59

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  Unfortunately you are just looking at the surface of my words and assume that I am defending him so it is I that will refrain from commenting any further for I have no doubt that most would agree with you Frank and disagree with me. Secondly, this thread was geared towards the emotional aspect of the story and Igor offers everyone a villain they can rant and shout about so best it is I that stay out of this thread…..by all means Frank continue on and I wont mention another word here about it.

• HappyStuffing said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  Well it looks like we are all a healthy, passionate bunch when it comes to the biking culture

• michael holloway said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  Igor is a great character, someone should write a piece on him towards a film or a play. (Michael Hollingsworth! Are you on the Web?)

  I think Igor suffers from manic-depression, he's brilliant at times but when he's down – he's way down. That goes a long way to understanding why he hasn't mounted a defence for himself on this.

  Which brings me to my point…

  I believe the reason that Igor has been freed with time served and some tasks towards the public good (like selling the stock pile of bikes and repaying the court and the public defenders – a zero sum gain), is because the Prosecutor knows the case is shaky, and if they push him, he and the community around him will mount a strong defence and expose the police tactics used in this case. I expect the Province, the police and the police board don't want that.

  This is also about the car in this car culture of ours, all effort in our underfunded policing institutions are biased towards protecting the rights of car owner citizens, 'a blind eye' towards bike theft is a tactical decision take by planners at a high level of influence.

  What is distressing to me is that these suspect policing strategies are receiving an acceptance because they are being used only in cases where the probable defendants will not have the where with all to defend themselves. (This also talks to the underfunding of the Public Defenders Office – who are currently on strike for better pay and in support of an important of the democratic institution.)

  Somewhere along the line here someone is going to defend themselves in one of these cases and a Judge is going to throw this type of case out of court.

  Michael Holloway

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  Funnily enough, I have read that hes quite the character. Police, Crown Attorneys, Lawyers all say hes a really likeable and intelligent person yet I have heard from those that went into his store that he would yell scream and holler at people. But you are right, those are t he signs of a bi-polar manic personality.
  In any event, one question Michael. You suggest that somewhere along the line someone will defend themselves and the judge will throw it out of court.
  I understand it is harder and harder these days to get legal aid and you can even be turned down by the legal department at York University, by the students who pick up so many cases for their year, at which point one really has no option but to pay a lawyer or defend themselves.
  If that is correct, why do you think the judge would necessarily throw such a case out of court if there are some, or many (I haven't any idea of the numbers) people thrust into that position today? What will cause the judge to throw one of those cases out, that you speak of, over the many that must go though the system like this per day?

• SD-B59 said 5 months, 4 weeks ago:

  "This is also about the car in this car culture of ours, all effort in our underfunded policing institutions are biased towards protecting the rights of car owner citizens, 'a blind eye' towards bike theft is a tactical decision take by planners at a high level of influence."

  Interesting! Therefore wonder what you think might happen with Michael Bryant?
  Look at how quickly the masses turned against the victim when the PR firm released the information that he was a bike courier. Suddenly people felt sorry for Bryant! LOL