Mom Praised for Calling Cops on Husband Who Hid Stepson's Motorcycle

A mom is being applauded for calling the police on her husband after he stole and hid her teen son's motorcycle.

Sharing the story with Reddit's Am I the A******? (AITA) forum on September 6, user u/anonymoususer13q explained that her husband has "always been against" her 18-year-old son's love of motorcycles, faking its theft to prove "it was a waste of money."

Although the poster and her son got the bike back, users warned the woman about her husband's "controlling behavior"—and the impact it could have on the relationship with her child moving forward.

Rise in Vehicle Thefts

According to the latest statistics available from the FBI, there were roughly 1,117,696 household burglaries in 2019, an average loss of $2,661 per property.

An earlier survey by the Department of Justice found that 65 percent of victims are robbed by someone they know, with 34 percent of perpetrators having a close relationship with the victim. A number of these robberies are conducted by ex-partners who still have a key, with over a third of perpetrators entering via the front door.

Data showed that motorcycle thefts decreased year-on-year until 2020, when thefts drastically increased. In 2020, 53,111 motorcycles were stolen, compared to 40,380 in 2019. Vehicle thefts spiked overall during the pandemic by 10.9 percent, due to vehicles being left unattended during lockdown.

'I Told You So!'

In her post, anonymoususer13q said she'd bought the motorcycle for her vehicle-obsessed son as an 18th birthday present, costing $7,000. Her husband had an issue with the bike immediately, accusing her of encouraging her son to be "reckless" and "distracting him from school."

The motorcycle continued to cause tension between her husband and son, so the poster told her husband to stop "complaining" about it. Two weeks ago, the son's bike mysterious disappeared.

"We opened a police report but nothing came out of it," she said.

"My husband had a smirk on his face the entire time just walking around saying 'I told you so! You just wasted your money!' This was unbearable to hear to be quite honest."

The poster filed a police report, but the bike could not be located. However, a conversation with her mother-in-law a few days ago blew the case wide open.

The poster's husband owns an empty house he plans to pass down to his own children, which the mother-in-law cleans once a week. During her last visit, she spotted a motorcycle in his garage, and wondered if it was the son's missing bike.

"I was puzzled I asked if she was certain but she showed me a photo she took of it which confirmed that it was indeed my son's motorcycle," she wrote.

"I immediately rushed to call my husband and confront him about it. He admitted that he took and hid the motorcycle in his garage as a last resort after me and his stepson kept brushing him and his thoughts off about the 7k being spent on something unnecessary and that could cause issues."

The husband refused to return the bike, threatening to sell it and give the money back to the poster so she could "use it wisely this time." She warned him she'd call the police, to which he replied "this is a family matter and cops can't do s*** about it."

After calling the cops, the bike was finally returned. However, as they'd previously filed a police report, the husband had to be taken to the station.

"He came home yelling about how awful what I did was and how crazy my behavior was," she said.

"I refused to engage in the argument but he told his entire family about it and they judged me for calling the police on my own husband even though I already asked him to return it.

"He said he was just looking out for my son and that one day we'll realize that he was right but only when it's too late."

Now, the son isn't speaking to his mother or her husband, leaving the poster concerned she handled it the wrong way.

Reddit users reassured the poster she'd done the right thing, with the post receiving almost 23,000 upvotes and over 3,500 comments in less than 24 hours.

Malkom1366 said: "Your husband stole an item and hid it, then allowed you to go to the police about it, smugly knowing they wouldn't turn up anything and lied to you either overtly or by omission about it.

"You were right to call him out, you were right to involve the police when he threatened to sell it against your wishes, and my recommendation would be to begin divorce proceedings because this man does not have any respect for you whatsoever."

MissSuzieSunshine agreed, writing: "Maybe next time he will rethink doing something so stupid."

Many users were concerned about the husband's behavior, with Lonely_Shelter_4744 telling her to "run."

"Your husband is selfish, abusive, overbearing and controlling," they said. "You need To Get away from him and his entitled behavior."

While stdnormaldeviant reminded the poster that her relationship with her son should always come first.

"In the end, though, the cops are no defense against an abuser in your home," they wrote. "If you let him keep mistreating your son this way you will regret it when you lose your son."

Newsweek has reached out to u/anonymoususer13q for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.