Diogo Santos’s bike was taken from near Cyril Le Marquand House earlier this month.
The keen motorcyclist, from St Helier, says he will now need to spend around £2,000 to repair the motorcycle and will not be covered by his insurance.
‘I parked it outside the old Tax Office [Cyril Le Marquand House] on the Saturday evening [5 October 2019] and left it there as usual – there are lots of other motorbikes which are parked there,’ he said.
‘I went back on Tuesday morning to check it was there and it was, but then I came back on Wednesday at 4pm and it had gone. I called the police to see if it was in their compound – I never thought that it would be stolen in a place like Jersey – but it was not.
‘I did not leave the keys in it, so they must have pushed it away. They are now looking at CCTV and there are quite a few cameras in that area apparently.’
Mr Santos added that after reporting his motorcycle stolen to the police, it was found just a matter of hours later – less than 300 metres away from where it was taken.
‘I put a post up on Facebook at about 6pm and I believe that helped – it got quite a lot of shares – because by 11.30pm the police had found it,’ he said.
‘I think whoever stole it left it there because of of all the publicity it got. It was [left] in the underground car park under apartments on Cannon Street. The police just walked right down to the bottom floor and found it.’
The 20-year-old added that after buying the bike he spent an additional £3,000 on modifications, including a new engine, and said that he would not be covered for the theft under the terms of his insurance.
‘They had cut all the wiring and had taken parts off it. I went to the shop today and they said that it will cost £2,000 and it would not be economical to repair it,’ he said.
‘I rode it during the Big Ride Out, then the MOTs [Periodic Technical Inspections] came in and I had to spend a long time sorting that out, so I had only been riding it for four weeks before it was stolen.’
A spokeswoman for the States police confirmed that no one had so far been arrested, but that officers were currently reviewing CCTV. Anyone with information is asked to call 612612 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
