As the young man who said his name was Tavon looked over the dirt bike, checking parts and talking shop, 16-year-old Dan Torsch thought he was $1,200 closer to a car.

Torsch had put the beloved bike up for sale last week, hoping to supplement the salary from his part-time job. Friday, as "Tavon" and the woman he said was his stepmother chatted with Torsch and his parents, the deal seemed sealed. So, Toni Torsch, Dan's mother, told Tavon that he could take the bike for a test ride.

That's when the deal - and the damage - was done.

Tavon never came back to the Northeast Baltimore home on White Avenue. His "stepmother," who then said that she was not related to the young man, said she didn't know where he went and then tried to leave.

The Northeastern precinct officers who responded to the 911 call said the family had fallen prey to a common theft technique - take the object and run.

"If they can get it away, they don't come back," said Sgt. Drew Hall.

There are thousands of varieties of theft, Hall said, many of which involve trickery. The ploy of taking something for a test run is common.

"It happens in the new-car industry," Hall said. "People go for a test drive, and they won't come back."

Often, thieves will show dealers fake driver's licenses, Hall said.

The test-run scheme is more likely to happen to inexperienced sellers such as the Torsch family, he said, especially when there is a twist, such as someone staying behind.

Toni Torsch said she and her husband blocked the woman's truck so she could not get away. The police took the woman into custody, Torsch said, but might not be able to charge her.

Torsch said the woman has denied knowledge of the theft and the suspect, saying she was a hack, an unlicensed taxi driver, who had given the young man a ride.

"I know there are more important things going on in the city," said Toni Torsch, 43, who works in the juvenile justice system. "But it's really frustrating. [Dan] cashed in his baby bonds to get that dirt bike."

She and her husband know to inspect a contractor's license when they hire someone to do home improvements. They don't give money to phone solicitors.

They also know enough about scams to have kept their son's bike locked in the basement, in case someone who saw his ad decided to try to steal it. But this one, she said, they just hadn't heard of.

"I thought, 'His stepmom is here, he's not going to take the bike,'" Torsch said. "She played along really well."