Officer Mark Vwich was pulling his patrol car in front of the West Precinct last Thursday when something caught his eye.
About a week earlier, on February 18th, Officer Vwich had been called to a downtown parking garage after a reported burglary and theft of a high-end bike.
When he pulled in front of the station Thursday, he saw the same burgled bike, now in the clutches of a man wearing cycling gloves.
Officer Vwich walked up to the man—who was standing with a group of people outside a convenience store—and asked him where he’d gotten the bike. The man replied he’d bought the $2,000 Ridley bicycle for $50 from a “friend’s friend.”
The serial number on the bike matched up with the one Officer Vwich had taken a report on a week earlier, confirming it was indeed the same stolen cycle, so he arrested the man.
When police searched the suspect, they found two suspected meth pipes, a stolen bank card, and a receipt showing someone had used the stolen card to buy $300 worth of new shoes and “lounge pants.”
Officers booked the man into the King County Jail for possession of stolen property.