JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It looked like something out of the Guinness Book of World Records: A motorcycle stuffed by would-be thieves into the trunk of a white Cadillac.

"It looked like a toy," said motorcycle owner Heather Thompson, whose bike -- worth about $5,000 -- was stolen from her own driveway. Someone told her the bike had just been stolen, and she turned the corner to find it in the trunk of the car.

The car didn't get far before police pulled it over and Thompson's bike was returned. But she is just one of many people who are getting ripped off, according to investigators.

The same thing happened to Steven Sechler. His Big Dog motorcycle was swiped from the roadside when it broke down and Sechler left to call a wrecker.

"Three thousand dollars worth of motor work just four days before it got stolen," he said.

According to police, George Croft (pictured, right) drove by and loaded Sechler's bike onto the back of his flatbed truck. Unfortunately, Sechler didn't immediately recover his bike -- worth about $31,000 -- until he found it being sold off piece by piece on the Internet.

"They were unmistakably my parts," he said. The tipoff was the lightning bolt he'd had painted on the side of his bike to match his tattoo.

The victims said they're much more cautious now, even though both had their bikes locked at the time of the thefts.