Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida
Stolen Bike Parts
My 12 year old son was given two bike frames by his 13 year old friend. My son rebuilt these frames from the bottom up. I spent over $100.00 on parts. After the two frames were built into bikes the friend asked to borrow one, I said he could for two weeks. About a week later the other bike disappeared out of my garage. We found out the friend and mother had taken it. We called and went by their home on many occasions to retrive the bikes to no avail. I wrote her a letter, but got no response. Finally, my boyfriend got her on the phone and she stated that we were not getting the bikes back, that her son had no right to give them away. We asked her only for the parts that we had paid for, but she refuses saying they now belong to her. What should we do, and if we go to small claims can we also sue for the time and labor my son put into these bikes? Her son continually calls us to appologize, and says he has tried to talk to his mother, but she won't listen. Thanks for any advice you can give.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Stolen Bike Frames
You probably could not press criminal charges in this context, but you could sue in small claims for unjust enrichment. You would most likely be given the value of the improvements to the bicycles.
Stolen bike frames
There are several different ways this situationcould be analyzed. One is that the frames weregiven to your son. They then became his propertyand the other boy and his mom have in effectstolen them from you. You could file suit forthe value of the bicycles. This would be calledconversion. You could also argue their actions constitute civil theft. There is a statute thatallows you to sue for three times the valueof the property stolen plus attorney's fees and costs. However, you first have to senda demand in writing thirty days in advance. Isuggest you see an attorney about this.
If a judge determines that the frames were not actually given to you, you could still sue forthe money you paid for the parts which you addedon to the frames. Although you could try to argue your son should get reimbursed for his laborI don't believe to many judges would go along with that.You cannot recover for the hassle and emotional distress. There is no guaranty that you will win so proceed at your own risk.
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