If you've ever thought about nabbing an abandoned bicycle off a bike rack on campus, maybe you should think again.
A UF student biking to the gym last week saw a bicycle he figured was abandoned and decided to take it home.
As a result, he was banned from that part of campus and is facing possible sanctions from UF.
The 23-year-old senior, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the bike was rusty, missing its front tire and looked like it hadn't been ridden in a long time.
There wasn't even a lock on it, he said.
So, after deliberating, he decided no one would care if he just took the bike home and gave it to his friend who needed a bike.
But as he was walking along Museum Road with the two bikes - the one he rode there and the newly acquired one - a University Police Department officer spotted him and questioned him. The officer eventually banned him from the Lakeside Residential Complex, where he found the bike, and referred him to UF's Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution.
The office heard his case on Monday and told him there was a good chance he won't face any additional sanctions.
If that turns out to be the case, the student said he would also petition UPD to lift its ban.
But if UF decides to punish him, he could face anything from conduct probation - meaning he couldn't study abroad or be an officer in a student organization - to suspension or expulsion.
The student said he wouldn't have taken the bike if he knew someone still wanted it but realized what he did was wrong.
He said he shouldn't have assumed it didn't belong to anyone.
"From now on I will make sure that I don't make an assumption just based on convenience," he said. "I was very glad I was corrected."
UPD Lt. Robert Wagner said, even though the bike was likely abandoned, it's still a case of stolen property.
"He took something that wasn't his, and he knew it wasn't his," Wagner said. "That's wrong."
The bike is now in UF's possession, and UPD's property manager will try to locate an owner. If no one claims the bike, it will be sold at auction like other abandoned bikes that UPD collects.
