Thanks to a quick thinking bike shop owner, two people were arrested for trying to sell a high-end bike back to its rightful owner Wednesday.
East Precinct officers arrested a man and a woman Wednesday after they tried to sell a stolen rare, custom-built bike back to its rightful owner.
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The slightly confusing chain of events began earlier this week when a woman called a local bike shop owner, looking to sell the rare $6,500 bicycle, taken in a burglary earlier this month in Columbia City.
It turns out the woman had called the bike shop owner who had custom-built the bicycle. Recognizing his own work, and realizing the woman was trying to sell a stolen bike, the shop owner told the woman he knew an interested buyer, took down her phone number, and passed it on to the bike’s rightful owner.
The bike’s owner called the woman, set up a time to meet, and called police for backup.
Around 3 pm. the woman, accompanied by a man, pulled into a parking lot near Broadway and E. Pike Street, where officers confronted the pair about the bicycle. Their stories didn’t add up.
The woman claimed the bike had belonged to a deceased fiance. However, her partner claimed he had bought the bike at a park in South Seattle.
Police returned the bike to its owner, and arrested the man and the woman for possession of stolen property.
Does anyone know which bike shop owner this was? I’d love to hear the full story (get in touch with me: [email protected]).
Keep a eye out for Renovo frames
In other bike theft news, Bike Portland reports that the Renovo factory was robbed of several hardwood frames this week. Thieves often try to sell easily-identifiable goods in nearby cities, so be on the lookout for them here.
Comments
2 responses to “Police arrest pair who tried to sell stolen bike back to owner”
Wouldn’t it be nice if that was a story about RaleighDon’s bike?
I think that to really crack down on these bike thefts, or theft in general is for the punishment to be severe enough to detour it. We need to demand legislation that puts personal crimes at a higher level then they are now. If a thief were to serve nine months in jail and be brandished a felon for thefts of things like bikes and electronics, maybe we would not have so many thefts. Also enforcing the trafficking in stolen property rules would help eliminate a market for these items.