AITA for calling the Police on my husband after I found that he was hiding my son’s motorcycle?

A Redditor shares how a tense family dispute over a motorcycle spiraled out of control. After discovering that her husband secretly hid her son’s 18th-birthday gift—a $7k motorcycle—and refused to return it, she called the police to resolve the matter.

Now, both her husband and his family are angry, and even her son has distanced himself. Was she justified in her actions, or should this have been handled differently? Read the full story below…

‘ AITA for calling the Police on my husband after I found that he was hiding my son’s motorcycle?’

I got my son a 7k motorcycle for his 18th birthday this past june. My son is obssessed with automobile and loves motorcycles. In his room he has plenty of models and posters of motorcylces of all types. His bio dad passed away when he was just 12, now I’m married to my current husband and he has kids of his own.

My husband has always been against my son’s interest in motorcycles. he thinks I’m encouraging him to be reckless, distracting him from school and by extension his future, and spoiling him and blowing away money by spending 7k on a motorcycle. This caused some tension between him and my son so I told him to stop complaining about it.

Around 2 weeks ago, my son’s motorcycle went missing. We opened a police report but nothing came out of it. it just disappeared. 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 unbbearablr to hear to be quite honest.

My mother inlaw visited few days ago. She was talking about the other house my husband owns and mentioned seeing a motorcycle, one that’s similar to the one that we lost in my husband’s carage while she was cleaning it (she goes to clean that house weekly even though it’s empty, my husband plans on giving it to his kids as inheritance).

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. I immedietly 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 unnecesary and that could cause issues.

I blew up at him demanding he return it, he refused and told me he had been considering selling it and giving the money back to me so “I could use it wisely this time”. I told him I was serious and that I’d call the police. He literally said “this is a family matter and cops can’t do s**t about it”. I had enough I called the cops soon as I ended the call with him.

The motorcycle was found and returned, but my husband had to be taken in since there was an open file about the motorcylce going missing. he was let go eventually but he was livid with me. He came home yelling about how awful what I did was and how crazy my behavior was.

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. My son isn’t spsaking to me or my husband. I feel horrible about the whole situation and am starting to think I handled this the wrong way.

Here’s the comments of Reddit users:

Malkom1366 −  NTA. The debate about whether a motorcycle is a good gift for an 18 year old is irrelevant. Completely. Red herring. Ignore any responses based on this. 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.

When confronted, he doubled down. No remorse, no contrition. 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. He’s already proven he will commit crimes and file false police reports in order to get his way.

MissSuzieSunshine −  NTA. Once you gave the motorcycle to your son, it became your sons property and NOT the property of your husbands to take.
Additionally, taking it and hiding it like that and not copping to it after you filed the police report is really s**tty. He literally stole the motorcycle.

I would seriously rethink staying married to him. Who the hell does he think he is to ‘teach a lesson’ in that way?? Oh and yeah. You did the right thing calling the police on him. Maybe next time he will rethink doing something so stupid.

Lonely_Shelter_4744 −  NTA girl run. Your husband is selfish, abusive , overbearing and controlling. You need. To. Get away from him and his entitled behavior.

BaltimoreBadger23 −  NTA: your husband committed a crime, let him deal with the consequences. Time to get out of this marriage.

Tweakywolf −  NTA but you should return the husband, he sounds defective. Maybe use the money you wasted on him to have a nice putting with your son so you can tell him you had nothing to do with this, and you’re just as pissed as he is.

Salt_Breath_8827 −  NTA. Your husband is showing controlling and abusive behavior toward both you and your son. He broke the law by stealing your son’s vehicle (which your son can press charges for if he chooses to do so).

The question now is whether or not you want to remain married to a man who would steal, lie to everybody involved, and manipulate the situation in a way that makes you feel guilty for defending your son and his property. I wouldn’t – but that’s me.

[Reddit User] −  Eff that noise. Kick your husband to the curb and save your relationship with your son. NTA but Y-T-A if you continue to subject your son to this man.

Shoereader −  NTA, but the question of the bike itself is secondary, for now. The major issue is that your husband felt comfortable *stealing* $7K worth of property from your son. He smirked at the thought of your and his distress, refused to give it back even when called out… and is now full-on trying to convince you that *you’re* the crazy person here.

And after all that, not one word from you about leaving him? You’re actually coming round to your husband’s idea that this was somehow all for the best? No wonder your son is refusing to speak to you as well.

He’s probably making quiet but urgent plans to move out entirely ASAP. Apologize fervently to him, then take proactive steps to remove the controlling narcissistic bully from your lives, and you’ll be amazed at how much simpler life becomes.

Lusticles −  Your son COMES FIRST. Your husband is an abuser and an a**hole. You would be the a**hole if you give in to your husband and ignore your son’s passion for motorcycles. I would divorce so fast if my husband was being an a**hole to MY kid. He stole property and hid it, then tried to justify his actions. NOTHING good will come from this.

PsyberChica −  He came home yelling about how crazy my behavior was. Umm…so like, stealing & hiding a bike and letting your family go through the process of reporting it missing is completely sane. NTA. He sounds like the type that if your son were fatally injured from a motorcycle accident, then he would say “I told you so!”

Was calling the police the right move in this situation, or should the family have tried to resolve the matter without legal intervention? What do you think about the husband’s actions and his justification for hiding the motorcycle? Share your thoughts below!