A bit of sleuthing around Lake City led two SPD officers to arrest a thief and recover a man’s bike, a week and a half after it was stolen.
Around 6:30 PM Thursday, the bike’s owner stopped by the Lake City Dick’s Drive-In when he spotted a man riding his very distinctive $2,000 Raleigh hybrid bike down the street. Earlier this month, on September 18th, the victim had locked his bicycle to his car at a Lake City bar, only to return several hours later to find his bike had been stolen. The victim took to social media and neighborhood blogs to try to recover his bike, but never reported the theft to police–until he spotted the suspect riding it Thursday.
Officers Alan Richards and William Anderson responded and spoke to the victim, who said he’d seen a pony-tailed man in dark clothing riding off in the 12300 block of 30th Avenue NE.
Based on the description, and a few statements from witnesses in the area, Officers Richards and Anderson believed they’d had contact with the suspect, a 36-year-old man, before and drove to Northeast 123rd Street and 40th Avenue NE, where they’d seen him previously.
When officers pulled up on the street, they saw the 36-year-old dart out of a silver van and run down the block. The suspect dove into a hedge and unsuccessfully tried to burrow through it. Police were eventually able to take him into custody. They returned to the silver van down the block, where they found the victim’s stolen bike. Officers also found small baggies of methamphetamine and heroin in the suspect’s pocket and discovered he was also wanted on a Department of Corrections warrant.
Officers returned the stolen bike to the victim and turned the suspect over to the Department of Corrections.