Ride CT & Ride New England Serving New England, NYC and The Hudson Valley!
A 1954 Harley-Davidson that was stolen from a North Carolina police officer’s home in 1972 – and spent many years in New England (see update at bottom) – has been found at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport in California where it was bound for Australia.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers, working with the California Highway Patrol and a National Insurance Crime Bureau special agent, intercepted and seized the bright yellow Hydra-Glide model on Sept. 7 and turned it over to CHP, according to a press release issued Thursday.
The bike was green when it was stolen on March 4, 1972 from the back yard of Edgar Howard Johnson, who lived in Charlotte, N.C. The bike features a trumpet style horn and a medallion on the front fender denoting Harley-Davidson’s 50th anniversary. Johnson passed away four years ago – on Oct. 7, 2010.
“My dad would be absolutely tickled to get it back if he was still alive. This is so great; absolutely amazing; so wonderful,” said Edgar Howard Johnson Jr., who is the original owner’s oldest son.
Johnson said, “I remember dad picking me up from school with it one time. When the kids asked me if I was going to ride on that, I told them I sure am. I miss my dad so much. We used to talk once every week. He’s with me in my heart. This is like a piece of him is coming back home.”
The press release is posted on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website here. It didn’t say whether any arrests have been made or where the bike has been for the past 42 years. RIDE-CT / RIDE-NewEngland has emailed requesting more information.
UPDATE: Lee Ann Harty of the CPB responded promptly Friday evening to submitted questions saying no arrests have been made and supplying info that traces part of the bike’s journey over the past 42 years – a journey that took it through New England.
Her response explained, “California Highway Patrol Investigative Services Unit Foreign Export And Recovery (FEAR) assigned to US Customs and Border Outbound Enforcement Team traced it as far back as about 2002. The attempted exporter of the 1954 H-D is a guy in MA who bought it in the fall 2012 from a female in Rhode Island; she bought it in 2003/2004 and kept it garaged for 10-11 years. She bought it from a guy in Connecticut who has since passed.”
An intriguing tale…
