Chicopee dirtbike stolen from family’s backyard after buyer bails on online meet-up

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - A family from Chicopee is feeling on edge after a dirtbike they posted for sale on social media was stolen from their backyard. Now, they are learning that other people have experienced the same thing.

Police said that this type of scam and theft is common after people post expensive items for sale on social media.

Becky Rogers’ 16-year-old son posted the dirt bike for sale on a social media platform. He started to communicate with a man who he believed wanted to buy the bike, so they arranged to meet at a church address, but the man never showed. A few days later, the bike was stolen from the shed in their backyard.

“It feels very violating,” Rogers said. “Let me tell you that neither one of us slept last night, even though we have alarms and have the cameras. It’s uneasy knowing someone was in our backyard.”

Rogers told Western Mass News that she believes the man they were messaging followed her son and his dad home from the church undetected. She believes that person surveyed the house to know where her security cameras were placed.

“There were actually still clippers on the ground they used, trying to get into the shed,” she told us. “They broke off two pieces of the shed and they took the dirt bike, avoiding all our Ring cameras. Grabbed it from our shed, went into our neighbor’s yard and out the side.”

Her ex-husband posted that the bike got stolen on his social media page, to which he received numerous messages from people claiming that they messaged the same person and had the same exact thing happen to them.

Chicopee Police Officer Travis Odiorne told us that this type of crime is common. He suggests never posting your home address or any pictures that would give away where you live when you post things for sale on social media.

He added that you should always meet up in a well-lit location, preferably with cameras, like your local police department.

“We do have a parking lot, parking space in the parking lot here that’s videotaped, audio and video, and recorded 24/7,” Officer Odiorne said. “If you’re more comfortable with that, you can park out front and do your transactions here.”

This crime is being investigated by Chicopee Police. If anyone has any information, you are urged to contact them.

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