August 25, 2026 — 5:00amFed up with inaction after his motorcycle was stolen from his property in the east Perth suburb of Stratton last week, a Perth father decided to do his own investigative work.Three days, dozens of community tips, and several social media pressure tactics later, Saadiq Regal not only recovered his own bike – he accidentally solved a theft involving a member of parliament and brought the region’s bike theft crime wave straight to government leaders.As a result, the father of three is now a reluctant community hero.His suburb’s local social media page has even been rebranded in his honour with the tag line, “I don’t just fight crime, I take back what’s yours”.It’s a fitting description after last week’s escapades.The 33-year-old part-time forklift driver and food truck owner kept the community hooked with regular updates about tracking down his stolen Ducati after he enlisted their help with tip-offs and information.The quad bike allegedly stolen from MP Rod Caddies.It was taken from his home just before 4am on August 17.“I posted the CCTV footage of it being stolen and started getting messages and comments from everybody in Stratton saying, ‘They’ve stolen this from me, it’s the same kids that have done this, they’ve stolen this’,” Regal said.“People had laptops, bikes and e-scooters stolen.“I was like, all right, this can’t happen. This is ridiculous. I didn’t care about my bike too much. This was all about them now.”Regal’s stolen Ducati was found in a nearby bush.When he heard a quad bike had been stolen from the area on the same day as his bike, Regal deduced that it must have been pinched by the same alleged perpetrators, and spurred him further into action.Little did he know, the bike belonged to local One Nation MP Rod Caddies and his wife. They had already filmed the alleged thieves hooning around the neighbourhood on it.“I hopped into my car and went for a drive,” Regal said.“This whole time I’m still getting information, tips, leads of who they are, their names, their addresses. I was pretty much building a whole story and feeding it back to the police.”Regal was also building a map of where his bike had been taken as he was being fed back CCTV vision from the community of the bike being pushed down the street from his house and hidden elsewhere.He decided to take the week off work and dedicated his time to driving around the neighbourhood on the lookout.By Tuesday, he spotted the quad bike, did a U-turn and followed it.He started posting photos and updates on the local pages.The dumped quad bike that belonged to One Nation’s WA leader Rod Caddies.Regal said he only ever wanted the items returned, an apology and an admission of wrongdoing.On Tuesday night, the quad bike was found abandoned in a nearby bush.By Wednesday, Regal also found his bike, trashed, in a similar spot.“I assumed that the kids got overwhelmed with what I was doing because they could clearly see me tracking them wherever they were taking this bike,” he said.Caddies told this masthead he was grateful to get his quad bike back and said the experience prompted him to bring the issue to WA parliament.One Nation’s WA leader asked a question last week about how many bikes had been stolen in the last 12 months, and whether the government was putting any extra resources towards that area of policing.The response was that funding was directed by the WA Police commissioner.But Caddies, who has a history of working in the youth and child protection space, said the problem was bigger than money.“We’ve got a whole big issue with this country with youth crime,” he said.“But I think this is the problem when we have this sort of crime. It’s not actually being addressed properly, it’s reactive. So you’re treating a symptom rather than the cause.”WA Police have recently cracked down on motorbike thefts in the state. Last month, they revealed they had carried out targeted operations, proactive patrols and community engagement activities across the metropolitan area in response to an increase in stolen bikes.Police said that in the first six months of this year, 55 motorcycles that were reported stolen had been recovered, and 36 people had been arrested for their alleged involvement in the thefts and associated burglaries.Regal said he recognised the police were doing all they can.“They need more resources. I get it,” he said. “But that, to me, should maybe mean laws should be changed.”A WA Police spokesperson said inquires remained ongoing in relation to both the stolen Ducati and quad bike, with no charges laid at this stage.From our partners