Photo: Twitter / Hartford Police CT
If there ever was a story that would qualify as a classic happy-ender, this one is probably it: one teenager was parted way too soon from his almost-brand new dirt bike, and has recently been reunited with it. After 27 years.
Indeed, you read that right: it took police almost three decades to track down, recover and return a stolen dirt bike. As you may have guessed, the happy-ending is rather the result of chance instead of actual police work.
NBC Connecticut reports that Hartford Police seized dozens of stolen ATVs and dirt bikes in several operations last summer. Whenever one such vehicle is seized after being used in illegal activities, before it’s sent to the crusher, it’s run through the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) to see if there’s any active report on it about being stolen.
This is what happened with this 1990 Kawasaki KX dirt bike, which police seized because it was being used to tear through Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut. The bike was impounded and was about to be crushed, when data with the NICB revealed it had been reported stolen in 1992.
Jonathan Huginski was just 17 and had bought the bike one month prior, so he never really got the chance to enjoy it. He crashed outside of a school and was taken to the hospital for a broken wrist, and the bike was left behind – and was stolen. He filed the police report but never heard more of the bike.
Huginski tells NBC that he remembers saving up for a long time to be able to buy the bike and how upset he was when he was stolen. Obviously, he never imagined he would get it back, let alone in the decent condition it’s in after all this time.
To make matters even better, Huginski now owns an ATV & bike repair shop, so he’s more than up for the task of giving this Kawasaki the TLC it deserves. Who says you can’t have a happy-ending after 27 years?
NBC Connecticut reports that Hartford Police seized dozens of stolen ATVs and dirt bikes in several operations last summer. Whenever one such vehicle is seized after being used in illegal activities, before it’s sent to the crusher, it’s run through the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) to see if there’s any active report on it about being stolen.
This is what happened with this 1990 Kawasaki KX dirt bike, which police seized because it was being used to tear through Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut. The bike was impounded and was about to be crushed, when data with the NICB revealed it had been reported stolen in 1992.
Jonathan Huginski was just 17 and had bought the bike one month prior, so he never really got the chance to enjoy it. He crashed outside of a school and was taken to the hospital for a broken wrist, and the bike was left behind – and was stolen. He filed the police report but never heard more of the bike.
Huginski tells NBC that he remembers saving up for a long time to be able to buy the bike and how upset he was when he was stolen. Obviously, he never imagined he would get it back, let alone in the decent condition it’s in after all this time.
To make matters even better, Huginski now owns an ATV & bike repair shop, so he’s more than up for the task of giving this Kawasaki the TLC it deserves. Who says you can’t have a happy-ending after 27 years?
Twenty-seven (27) years ago this man had his dirt bike stolen. Today, HPD notified him that we had located it tearing through Bushnell Park. Reunited after 27 years. pic.twitter.com/7tMweMIe2J
— Hartford Police CT (@HartfordPolice) April 30, 2020
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