UPDATE 8/4/15:
Detectives began working with another victim of a bicycle theft who found his bike for sale on the website OfferUp. An undercover operation was set up to purchase the bike which resulted in the arrest of two suspects involved in the theft ring connected to the suspect arrested last week.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for a storage locker in the 700 block of Fairview Ave. N associated with the suspects. They recovered ten bicycles, six of which were reported stolen. Two have already been returned to their owner; one worth $2500 had been stolen in a car prowl on Capitol Hill and the other worth $3700 was stolen in a burglary in North Seattle. Inside the storage locker detectives also found a Glock pistol that was stolen in a burglary in 2010 and over 30 grams of meth and heroin.
ORIGINAL POST:
Detectives arrested a man Tuesday after he posted a stolen bike for sale on Craigslist.
A Seattle Police Major Crimes Task Force detective began investigating after the victim of a bicycle theft saw his bike advertised for sale on Craigslist. The victim’s bicycle had been stolen earlier in the day from a secured parking garage in lower Queen Anne. The same thief had been caught on camera multiple times before.
Detectives contacted the suspect who posted the Craigslist ad hoping to set up a meeting; unfortunately, he had already sold the bike to a pawn shop in Shoreline. He agreed to meet and buy the $3500 bike back to sell it to the detective knowing he could get more than the mere $400 the pawn shop gave him. (Only the suspect could buy back the bike because a pawn shop must put any item it buys on a 30-day hold before putting it up for sale.)
The suspect repurchased the bike from the pawn shop and then sold it for $850 to the undercover officer.
With the help of the Shoreline Police Department, the suspect was arrested and booked into King County Jail for trafficking in stolen property.
The bicycle was returned to the victim.
