I was collecting handfuls of used nails in my backyard this week and remembered the Nail Bandit who was caught in Oregon City, Bret Wilson.
Since Jonathan hasn’t posted any nail stories since then I guess the problem is solved? He was the guy responsible for the North Interstate nails?
Curious if there are any updates on the guy.
took a break from my other research and did a quick google. Pled guilty, sentenced to 30 days, in mid-Feb so it was before the 'rona reshaped things.
The man also told police he would buy $40 buckets of nails at a Home Depot outside of Oregon City to cover his tracks, according to the prosecutor. Often, Wilson would go through three buckets of nails in a few months.
I missed that he bought the nails with his own money. Gotta admit I laughed when I saw that – wouldn’ve been cheaper and more fun to drink beer and simply bust the bottle on the path like a garden variety nitwit.
The guy had issues – not sure jail was the right thing for him.
What issues besides in the OL article? Just guessing? I’m certainly curious more about him.
Note he was arrested for car tires, not bikes, so I don’t think a broken bottle would do anything.
Agree, it’d be nice to say “okay, 30 days or spending an evening on a bicycle and talking to the bike community” in the bikeportland examples.
The Nail Bandit case does seem like restorative justice might fit in well, but it seems problematic to require riding a bicycle as any sort of punitive measure. I get the gut reaction to make him “walk a mile in our shoes,” but I think that lesson needs to come from the offender’s own volition, after they begin to understand why what they did was unacceptable.
I would think picking a section of bike lane and sweeping it clean. 