Police seized a number of stolen bicycles and bike parts from a motel at 82nd and Aurora where a prolific bike thief was storing them. The April 6 investigation started while looking into an unrelated theft case, Seattle Crime reports:

While police were in the motel’s office, officers noticed a prolific bicycle thief’s ID sitting on the front counter.

The motel’s manager told police the man regularly visited tenants in a second-floor unit in the building, and “had tried to bring a group of bicycles up to” the room, but the manager apparently told the man he needed to leave his bikes on a bike rack outside the building.

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The manager then directed police to a collection of bikes left outside the motel, and officers ran the serial numbers on several bicycles and discovered they were reported stolen earlier this year.

While police were at the motel, another resident approached officers and told them he’d seen the prolific bike thief using a pickup truck parked outside of the building. A police report says officers ran the truck’s plate, and discovered it may have been used by suspects in another stolen property case.

Police went up to the second-floor room looking for the prolific bike thief, and found bicycle frames, parts, and tools inside.

Police believe the thief (or thieves) was selling the bicycles and parts on Craigslist. It is not clear if anyone was arrested, but no one appears to have been charged yet.

Here is an example of why it’s worth it to file a report if your bike is stolen. Police were able to determine the bikes were stolen by running the serial numbers. Remember, you can report bike thefts online now (for bikes under $500 in value).