Bicycle detail

Was living with a so called old friend by the name of James M E***s that has stolen from me before at the address listed. Bike is actually still currently at the listed address as far as i know as of 3/18/17. Left the day before(3/15/17) to spend the night at my girlfriend's house and it was definitely there inside the house when i left. He called the next morning telling me to come get it and that he was gonna fight me when i got there. So i showed up with a Hemet police officer and the bike was already gone by the time i got there (neighbor stashed it from cops), even though my ex girlfriend was there 45 minutes before and verified that it was still there. However the officer said he couldn't do anything as it was missing and i didn't have any factory/shop receipts with serial numbers. I did not have these because i bought the frame secondhand used from a member on Vitalbmx forum out of Florida back in 2014. I have the serial number as well as tons of pictures and all my family members and friends can verify that this is my bike. The officer said my only option is to sue him in small claims court