John Joseph of Cro-Mags Stops would-be Bike Thief in the East Village

John Joseph at CBGB with Bad Brains (2006), Photo: Clayton Patterson

If John “Bloodclot” Joseph (of Cro-Mags fame) sees you stealing a bike, he will fuck you up. Or make sure you get arrested. That’s the gist of a recent encounter detailed on his Facebook page yesterday. Apparently, he witnessed a “scumbag” trying to steal a couple bikes belonging to two girls in the East Village.

Read on…

So [Tuesday] night I’m walking around after I eat and I see this scumbag breaking a lock using a long pipe on two nice bikes. Earlier i saw the two girls who locked them up. So he comes up in my face, trying to be hard and asks for a cigarette. I’m like “Yo step the fuck back dude.” Which he does after he can tell I ain’t no East Village import new jack sucker. Turns out he lived in the building close by and goes inside. Now being a cyclist and old school New Yorker of course I waited for the girls to return to stop the theft. So, said scumbag comes out to see if the coast is clear to steal their bikes, sees me and sits on the stoop.

Meanwhile the girls come back, see the pipe on their lock and I inform them that the asshole over there was trying to steal their bikes. They thanked me and as karma would have it, the cops show up and grab the guy as someone else saw it and called. Turns out he’s been robbing bikes all over the neighborhood. So the moral of the story, if i see your ass stealing a bike – I’m stopping you. Cyclists look out for each other, that’s what we do.